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5obn Iporter jfort 



A Memorial 

and 

Personal Reminiscences 



Zbc Iknicfterbocher press 

New York 
1918 



r?.^i 



Copyright, 1918 

BY 

MARTHA F. FORT 



AUG -3 1918 



©Ci.A501350 




THE FOREWORD 

The reminiscences of his life and work were 
dictated to me by my father during the summer of 
1 91 6. He touched only upon the main events. 
There are countless unmentioned things that 
would add to this story of a wonderfully full 
life, but I leave it just as he told it to me as we 
sat together on the porch, or in the library by 
the open wood fire. To these I have added a 
few tributes and some clippings from Georgia 
newspapers. 

Martha Fannin Fort. 



jp^pp ^ #■■■ 






-P^h'^ 



IN MEMORY OF JOHN PORTER FORT 

The sweep of sky at eventide 

That melts within the majesty of pine; 

The hush that breathes serenity of space 

Where summer twiUghts linger long 

In benediction ; 

Beauty of leaf and bird, 

Of blossom and star, 

Of sea and furrowed lands, 

Of storm that cracks the mountain peak to flame; — 

These were his soul which reaching held the universe 

Within the circle of his brotherhood. 

To their haunts they called him, — 

Note of thrush 

And wild heart of the trees. 

There 'mid glooms of cypress brooding moss 

And lakes of ebon pearl. 

With shy wood denizens and mist of boughs 

He met his God. 

Day beckoned him, and forth among the fields 

He stepped and sowed his spirit. 

Sowed that man might eat and live and "thank the 

Lord, 
Giver of all good gifts." 
And as of old did Jacob dig a well, 
And Moses smite to life the desert rock. 
So with prophetic eye 
He saw the hidden rivers of the earth, 



2 3obn porter ffort 

And brought forth drink, 

Praising the kind Beneficence "who fills 

All nature with his plenteousness, " 

Flashing anew the ensign of his life 

That "man is made to overcome the world." 

Years sped on and still his soul unfurled 

From out the snowy petals of his dreams, 

Still buds burst greening from his pruning hook 

And little children smiled 

In answer to the welcome of his voice. 

While from the sky 

The titmouse came, 

Leaving her nest and company of wings 

To perch upon the friendship of his hands. 

And so 

Through victory of his spirit barrens bloom 

And earth unlocks her prisoned waters. 

And places that he knew are touched with light 

As from diffused transcendence of his life 

And hallowed by the passing of his feet. 

Kate Fort Codington. 



[Editorial from ''The Constitution,'' Atlanta, Ga,, 
Sunday, February i8, 1917] 

THE WORK OF JOHN P. FORT 

No man of his day accomplished more in the 
nature of everlasting benefit for the state in which 
he lived than the late John P. Fort did for Georgia. 

He was a man of vision — a dreamer — but with 
the energy and the faith and the resourcefulness 
to push ahead, explore his vision, and make his 
dreams come true; and in the doing of which he 
made of himself a notable public benefactor. 

Especially thankful should south Georgia be 
for the very revolutionizing of the health condi- 
tions of that section which he did so much to 
bring about. 

South Georgia was once afflicted with a mala- 
rial condition which seriously impaired the many 
advantages of that part of the state. The develop- 
ment of the country had been held back through 
generation after generation, despite its fertility 
and adaptability to agriculture, simply because of 
malarial conditions. 

3 



4 3obn porter jfort 

John P. Fort turned his attention to the 
problem. 

''It's the water," he said. And he set himself 
the task of finding a remedy. 

With no guide save his reason and determina- 
tion, he managed somehow to bore a hole into the 
earth more than five hundred feet deep; and was 
rewarded by a stream of pure, life-giving water. 
That was Georgia's first artesian well; and, as 
he says in a remarkable letter to Alfred C. 
Newell, written in October, 1907, and repro- 
duced in the magazine section of this issue of 
The Constitution: 

" The well has furnished drinking water during 
the summer time mostly for a circular area of ten 
or more miles in diameter for twenty-six years, 
parties coming in wagons with utensils to convey 
the water away for drinking purposes." 

That well, still flowing undiminished, proved 
the rejuvenation of South Georgia. It was fol- 
lowed by the boring of hundreds of others, and 
the result is that to-day residents of South Georgia 
are as free from the taint of malaria as are those 
of "the hills of Habersham. " 

The genius of the man again was manifested 
when, sensing the possibilities of the timber 



Jobn iporter ffort 5 

resources of south Georgia swamps, always 
before his day looked upon as worthless and in- 
accessible, he managed to get capital interested, 
and, under his guiding hand, the cypress lumber 
production of the state became one of its great 
industries. 

What he did for the fruit — especially the apple — 
industry in North Georgia is known to every man 
at all conversant with the state's development. 

A lake in the southern part of the state covered 
acres of fertile soil. Generation after generation 
of men had found no means of drainage. Fort 
found one. He studied the geological formation 
of the country, applied the knowledge he had 
gained by his artesian well operations, and rea- 
soned that probably the lake could be drained — 
as no man ever had drained a lake before — from 
beneath. So he exploited his theory, bored a hole 
straight downward in the center of the lake; 
and the waters ran out, leaving the bed ready 
for the plow. 

''The inhabitants of the pond were left on the 
muddy bottom, " he writes to Mr. Newell, ** among 
which was a large alligator. A strange and 
wonderful sight to behold!" 

And thus he spent his useful, constructive, busy 
life; doing original — often daring — things, all for 



6 5obn porter ffort 

the good of mankind and the development of his 
country. 

It is exceedingly gratifying too, that, unlike 
most men whose names illuminate the pages of 
our history. Fort lived to see his good works, or 
many of them, fructify. He was honored in life, 
and was appreciated for what he had done; but 
with the passing of time that appreciation of him 
and his life work will grow, and the future genera- 
tions will honor and revere his name, it is safe to 
predict, more pronouncedly even than do we 
who were contemporaneous with him. 

As time goes on undoubtedly the real greatness, 
the constructive genius of Fort will become even 
more generally recognized than it is to-day. The 
value of his great service to the community will 
become more apparent in the future than it has 
in the past; and he, in the sphere of practical 
scientific achievement and agricultural and indus- 
trial development, will be given rank in history 
along with Sidney Lanier, in poetry; Alexander 
H. Stephens, in politics; and Le Conte in science. 



PERSONAL REMINISCENCES 

My father, Dr. Tomlinson Fort, was bom in 
Burke County, Georgia, July 14, 1787. He was 
the son of Arthur Fort, who was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary War and a prominent man in the 
pioneer days of Georgia. My father studied 
medicine at the Philadelphia Medical College 
under the famous Dr. Rush to whose memory 
he was ever attached. He returned to Georgia 
settling at Milledgeville, then the capital of the 
State. He had a large medical practice, the most 
extensive in middle Georgia, which he kept up 
until ill health forced him to retire only a short 
while before his death in 1859. He represented 
his county twelve years in the State legislature, 
and his district two years in Congress. He was 
for years president of the State Bank and trustee 
of the University of Georgia. He then retired 
from political life. He served as a captain in the 
War of 1 812, and was severely wounded while 
fighting against the Indians in Florida. Had he 
Hved until the Civil War I am sure that he would 
have opposed secession. He was strong for the 

7 



8 Jobn porter jfott 

Union, and much opposed to negro slavery. I 
remember hearing him say that he could never 
look upon his slaves, which were about fifteen 
or twenty, with any degree of satisfaction. He 
was a quiet, grave man of great sobriety and 
learning. For general information I have never 
met his equal. He had the confidence of all that 
knew him, the love of family and friends. He 
was a most kind and sympathetic father. He 
was the greatest man I have ever known. 

My mother, before her marriage in 1824, was 
Miss Martha Low Fannin of the Fannin family of 
Georgia. She was a woman of great charm and 
of great strength of mind and heart. She had 
a large family — thirteen children — nine of whom 
lived to be grown. Her household consisted of 
ten or eleven servants. Ours was an open house, 
friends and relatives always coming and going. 
Mother was a busy woman and a very economical 
one, knitting our stockings and making our cloth 
caps. She loved her children devotedly, which 
love was returned by them. 

I was born in Milledgeville, August 16, 1841; 
there I passed my boyhood and youth. My 
early education was at a common school. The 
school was carried on under the principle of the 
lash. It was thought necessary to force knowledge 



3obn porter ffort 9 

by whipping. A child missing two words in a 
lesson was usually whipped. My first teacher was 
an Englishman named White. His invariable 
rule was to whip a pupil found not studying his 
lesson. In one of my first reading lessons I had 
to repeat ''As high as the sky" in a peculiar sing- 
ing manner, which I could not do to please him. 
He stood over me with a hickory; I was only a 
little boy, seven or eight, and I was frightened. 
At last I said it in a way that suited him. He 
then grabbed me up, put me on his shoulder, and 
marched around the room. Our next teacher, 
Little, also whipped for the slightest offense. 
One day after school hours several boys, among 
whom was I, went to the schoolhouse and for 
revenge broke up the furniture. Fights between 
the teachers and larger boys were the natural 
outcome of such system. 

When a boy I was very fond of the woods and 
streams, and everything connected with nature. 
My father took great pains to instruct me in these 
matters, and in talking to him and asking ques- 
tions, I obtained a large insight into nature — 
much more than is usual with boys of my years. 

I was interested specially in birds. I remember 
that a couple of bluebirds built their nest in a hole 
in a mulberry tree that grew in the yard. One 



lo 5obn porter ffort 

day I announced that the young had hatched, as 
I could hear their chirpings when the parent birds 
approached the nest. No one else could hear 
them and I was blindfolded to prove my state- 
ment, which I successfully did. I timed the visits 
of the old birds. On the average, once in twelve 
minutes a worm or some insect was brought to 
the young. At about that time I had a small 
collection of birds, which I had skinned and 
stuffed. These I kept in my room. One day 
an old gentleman, Mr. Armstrong, who was visit- 
ing in our house, when told of my fondness for 
birds, said to me, ** Young man, I have never 
known any one with an interest in such things who 
ever amounted to anything. ' ' I was greatly morti- 
fied by this harsh criticism, and made a bonfire 
of my birds. My mind and temperament from 
childhood have been those of a naturalist. 

Milledgeville is on the Oconee River at the 
mouth of Fishing Creek. Swimming was the 
favorite sport with the boys of the town. I was 
in the water a great deal and was a fine swimmer. 
To give an incident I remember well : A boyhood 
friend, Joe Bell, was drowning; I caught him by 
the hair and pulled him out, thus saving his life. 
At a later time he saved mine in the following 
manner: During the Civil War, in a mix-up in a 



»"^ 




JOHN P. FORT AT THE AGE OF TWELVE 



3obn porter ffort n 

swamp, we were fired upon by some of our own 
men. Just as one of them had his gun leveled on 
me, his officer, who was Joe Bell, recognized me 
and threw up the man's gun. We were quits. 

When sixteen years of age I entered the Fresh- 
man class of Oglethorpe College. This was a 
Presbyterian school, situated at a little town called 
Midway, about two miles from Milledgeville. 
The president of the college was Rev. Samuel 
Talmadge, an eminent Presbyterian divine. Two 
members of the faculty, Mr. James Woodrow, 
Professor of Chemistry, and Mr. Charles Lane, 
Professor of Mathematics, were living until a few 
years ago. I walked to and from college for four 
years, carrying my dinner bucket. There were 
usually five or ten of us walking together. I re- 
member on one of these walks killing a dove with 
a throw of my Latin grammar. There were two 
literary societies at college, the Phi Deltas and 
the Thalians. I was president of the Phi Delta 
during my senior year, but I never took a high 
stand in my class, as I was not a student. I was 
more fond of nature. Especially during vacations 
I was in fields and woods with rod and gun, and 
became a proficient sportsman. 

Two of my classmates are still living, Samuel 
Quarterman and his brother Pratt. Sam lives 



12 5obn porter ffort 

near Albany, Georgia, and Pratt in Quincy, 
Florida. Sidney Lanier, Georgia's most distin- 
guished poet, was in my class. I remember him 
as a slender young man of medium height, light 
hair, hazel eyes, and aquiline features — an ideal 
picture of the poet and musician he afterwards 
proved to be. I do not remember that he was 
especially studious or wrote poetry while at col- 
lege. I do remember, however, his proficiency in 
playing the flute. The strains of melody brought 
forth from this little instrument dwell with me 
until now. Lanier learned so easily that he carried 
off first honor in his class. Later we renewed 
friendship of college days. I remember going 
with him to Brunswick, Georgia, and viewing with 
him the broad marshes, which inspired his cele- 
brated poem. The Marshes of Glynn. 

College days came to a close, and I began the 
study of law in the office of Mr. William McKinley 
in Milledgeville. I was not old enough to vote, but 
I was an ardent follower of Stephen A. Douglas in 
the presidential election of i860, and because of 
this, was called by the boys at college the "Little 
Giant" although I, in no way, resembled him in 
stature. I took a lively interest in the stirring 
events of the time. The question of negro slavery 
usurped the place of all other questions. Then 



3obn porter ffort 13 

came John Brown's raid which created an incred- 
ible excitement. No "Free Soilers" like Horace 
Greeley or William Lloyd Garrison dared visit the 
South for fear of actual violence. Then came the 
secession of South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, 
Florida. Georgia felt in honor bound to follow. 
Then came the inauguration of President Lincoln 
and the firing on Fort Sumter. 

The proclamation of Mr. Lincoln calling for 
volunteers to overrun the South consolidated the 
people of Georgia, and as one man we offered 
our services in defense of our homes. The ex- 
citement was intense. I know my father, if he 
had been alive, would have opposed secession. 
Although she greatly disapproved of war and 
secession my mother did not put a veto on her 
three sons going. On the night that Georgia 
seceded all the houses in Milledgeville were 
illumined except ours. 

All my strongest feelings were aroused. I felt 
called to defend my country. In May, 1861, 
I joined a company from my home town, called 
after my father's old company, the "Baldwin 
Volunteers." I entered as a private soldier. I 
was entirely ignorant of everything pertaining to 
military affairs. If I had known as I afterwards 
did the difference between the status of a soldier 



14 Jobn porter ffort 

in the ranks and a commissioned officer, I doubt- 
less would have aspired to, and obtained, a com- 
mission, but I refused to consider the matter at 
all. I preferred to handle a gun, as this appealed 
to me as being more in accordance with the pa- 
triotic fervor that encompassed my being. I was 
a slender, immature young man of nineteen. It 
looked as if I would be unable to endure the 
hardships of camp life, but I soon became hard- 
ened to it, and became an efficient soldier; always 
up on the company's line; always up on the march; 
always ready for any duty. The rigor of camp life 
agreed with me and from one hundred and thirty 
pounds I soon weighed one hundred and sixty. 

It was the 9th of June, 1861, before arms could 
be obtained. Then our company was transferred 
to a camping ground at Atlanta, where we all duly 
signed articles of enlistment. We were attached 
to the 9th Georgia regiment. We were the first 
regiment to enlist for the war. All enlistments 
before that time had been for twelve months. The 
magnitude of the peril and the hardship, blood, and 
strife incident to our enlistment were not in the 
slightest anticipated. We thought it would be 
a short campaign. We knew nothing of the dis- 
position of our opponents and of the bitterness 
and bloodshed that were to follow. 



Jobn porter jfort 15 

Our officers were all elected by ballot. The 
colonel was a Mr. Goulding, who soon dropped 
out. The captain of my company was Ben- 
jamin Beck of Milledgeville. I was made first 
corporal without asking for the position. After- 
wards I was made a sergeant and acted for a 
while as first sergeant. I had reason to know 
afterwards that any office is preferable to the 
position of a private. 

About the middle of June we were transported 
by rail in cattle and box-cars to Richmond, Vir- 
ginia. There the regiment was drawn up in line 
of battle and we had our first dress parade. Our 
regiment was soon ordered to Strasburg, Vir- 
ginia; there we disembarked from the train and 
commenced our march down the beautiful Shen- 
andoah Valley to Winchester. Large wagon trains 
were in attendance to transport our tents and 
camp equipage. How great a change gradually 
came over our transportation department ! From 
several wagons to a company, we were reduced 
eventually to one to the regiment, known as the 
skillet wagon, as the men kept their cooking 
utensils in it. 

Our regiment was armed with an ordinary 
smooth-bore musket which shot a cartridge loaded 
with a ball and three buckshot. By actual trial 



i6 3obn porter ifort 

our guns with such a cartridge were only effec- 
tive a short distance, and would not bear the 
ball and shot at direct range more than eighty 
yards. Our cartridges were gradually changed 
to one with a single ball. Each soldier carried 
a belt of leather around his waist to which was 
attached a cartridge box containing forty rounds 
of cartridges and a cap box with about fifty 
percussion caps. This musket was used up to 
the end of the war, although a large part of the 
army gradually changed for Enfield rifles, a 
better gun with a range two or three times as 
far as a muzzle loader. The Federals had an 
immense advantage with their superior breech- 
loading Spencer rifles, which carried three times 
as far as our rifles, and shot ten times to our 
one. Toward the end of the war this was equi- 
valent to doubling the Federal force. 

During our first marches our knapsacks and all 
camp equipment were hauled in wagons. But soon 
we were required to carry our knapsacks; but we 
eventually threw them away, and carried our cloth- 
ing in a roll. The shoes I wore were splendid, — 
made by a shoemaker at home, and my socks had 
been knitted by my mother. 

At Winchester we were attached to Gen. Francis 
S. Bartow's brigade. The army was in command 



5obn porter jfort 17 

of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who rode down our 
Hne, and I had my first sight of our commanding 
general. After remaining in camp at Winchester, 
we were ordered to march farther down the valley 
toward Martinsburg. Near there we were drawn 
up in line of battle expecting an attack. While 
waiting we were suddenly ordered across the 
valley toward Manassas Junction. We marched 
all night; when the sun rose not more than one- 
fifth of the men had reached our destination. 
I was among the foremost. In this connection 
I wish to state that I had an extraordinary en- 
durance on long fatiguing marches. I never met 
a man in the army whom I thought my superior 
in endurance. 

Our brigade waited by the railroad expecting 
to be transported to Bull Run. But as transporta- 
tion was very limited the 9th Georgia was left 
behind. We could hear the roar of battle, and 
early next day we were upon the historic field of 
Bull Run, generally known as the First Battle 
of Manassas. We marched over the battlefield 
only to see the dead and wounded Federals. I 
saw the first dead I had ever seen. It made an 
impression of horror upon me that I remember 
to this day. 

I recollect a day or two after the battle I came 



i8 5obn porter ffort 

upon a horse, wounded in the shoulder, standing 
in the shade of a tree. The wound was such that 
he had no power to twitch or move the muscle of 
his shoulder to frighten the great number of horse 
flies which were sucking his blood. I was struck 
with the wise provision of nature that gives the 
horse the power of shaking off insects by a twitch 
of the skin. 

General P. G. T. Beauregard, who commanded 
the Confederate forces, rode down our line. We 
gave him a cheer, and I remember crying out, '' Let 
us go forward. ' ' My impression was the right one. 
If our victory had been followed up, we could easily 
have captured Washington, and the outcome of 
the war would have been very different. But we 
waited and gave the aroused North full time to 
recover from their defeat, and place large armies 
in the field. 

While on picket duty on the hills in sight of 
Washington, our regiment was under fire for the 
first time. I remember on one occasion I had been 
standing with my hand upon a plank — I moved 
away. A second afterwards a bullet struck the 
plank. 

We remained several months inactive in camp, 
losing valuable time. Camped near us was the 
28th Georgia in which was my brother George as 



Jobn iporter ffort 19 

a surgeon. We were also within a few miles of the 
1st Georgia Regulars, a splendid body of men, in 
which my brother Tomlinson was a first lieutenant. 
So I had the pleasure of being near and seeing my 
two brothers. 

During the winter of 1 861 -1862 the hardships 
of camp life, caused more than anything else by 
bad food and water, enfeebled my health. While 
lifting a heavy log I sprained my back, and was 
ordered to a hospital in Richmond. In Richmond 
I met my brother George, so did not go to a hos- 
pital, but stayed with my brother, who, on account 
of his poor health, was forced to leave the army. 
The surgeon who examined me thought I was per- 
manently disabled, so I obtained my discharge from 
the ranks and went home with Brother George. 
At home, in a few months, I partially recovered 
my health and insisted on again entering the army. 
My mother would not consent to my entering 
the infantry, therefore I bought me a good horse 
and proposed to ride down to the seacoast where 
I would consider the matter, as I was at that time 
exempt from service. But I went to Bainbridge 
instead, intending, with a Mr. Campbell, to or- 
ganize an artillery company. But while there I 
met some college friends who had enlisted in a 
cavalry company for the coast defense. I joined 



20 5obn porter jfort 

them as a private and did some hard riding for 
three months along the Florida coast. We were 
stationed at Newport, which is near the mouth of 
the St. Mark's River in northwest Florida. This 
company was a finely appointed body of men- 
They furnished their own horses and were splen- 
didly mounted. They were all young men of posi- 
tion and education. There seemed to be no dis- 
tinction between the officers and men. I do not 
think there was a mess in the company that did 
not have several servants to cook and wait upon 
its members. 

I became a good rider, and before I left I was one 
of the best in the troop. I was well mounted upon 
a fine horse I named " Red Robin. " I exchanged 
this horse for one called "Flying Ant," which 
was considered a very vicious and dangerous 
animal, as she had disabled two men before I took 
her in charge. I simply wished to show the com- 
pany that I could manage her, and I did. She 
was a splendid horse. On leaving the cavalry for 
the infantry service I sold her, including my fine 
cavalry saddle and equipment, to a prominent 
man in Quincy, Florida, for fifty-five dollars in 
gold, which I was to receive in a few days, but 
which I never did. 

In January, 1863, I joined the ist Georgia 



3obu porter ffort 21 

Regulars as second lieutenant of Company B. 
The regiment had been ordered from Virginia to 
Georgia to recruit its ranks. From there they 
were ordered to Florida near the junction of the 
Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, and there I joined 
them. 

I shall not attempt to give in detail my life in 
this regiment — its toils and privations, marches 
and battles. I shall only give incidents in our 
campaigns that are personal, and I may often with 
but a line pass over long periods of time. 

At the time I joined the ist Georgia, it was 
commanded by Major R. A. Wayne. The colo- 
nel, and Heutenant-colonel had been disabled by 
wounds and illness and never rejoined the regi- 
ment. Major Wayne became colonel. He was 
personally one of the most fearless men I have ever 
known. He was a gruff man, short and peremp- 
tory in manner, in camp disliked by his officers and 
men, but in time of battle, especially in great 
danger, commanding the respect of all. 

During the spring and summer of 1863 we per- 
formed picket duty along the coast near the mouth 
of the Appalachicola River. This was useless 
from a military point of view, and our ranks were 
more decimated by malaria than if we had been 
in many battles. We were under the immediate 



22 Jobn porter ffort 

command of General Howell Cobb. I have never 
been able to understand why he kept us there with 
the daily report of sickness and death. Oh! the 
chills and fever — and no quinine! This medicine, 
so necessary in the treatment of malaria, the 
enemy refused to pass into our lines. Three- 
fourths of our men and officers were prostrated, 
many of them dying. It was a shameful waste 
of life. The memory of the sufferings in those 
sickly camps will remain with me always. 

My brother Tomlinson was the captain in 
Company L in the regiment. He was a good 
officer, beloved of his men and respected by the 
officers of the command. He had been wounded 
twice severely, in the Virginia campaigns, on the 
field of Malvern Hill he was left for dead with 
a wound in the chest from a piece of shell, and 
at Second Manassas with a ball through his leg. 
He was carried home from our camp on the 
Appalachicola River so wasted with malaria, 
that I never expected to see him again. All in 
the regiment were sick with this disease that 
summer and I felt the effects of it through the 
entire winter. 

Early in 1864 we were ordered to march in all 
haste to Quincy, and from there to entrain to Lake 
City. We rejoiced to leave our sickly camp. Shortly 



Jobn porter ffort 23 

before we left we were joined by a company of 
men, which had been raised in Savannah as a 
command to operate heavy artillery. They were 
men over fifty and boys under eighteen years of 
age. They presented a most unmilitary appear- 
ance in motley civilian clothes. 

A large force of Federals had landed at Jackson- 
ville and intended to march to Tallahassee and take 
possession of the State of Florida. Their cavalry 
were marching upon Lake City and were within 
a few miles of the city when we arrived. Our 
small battalion and a company of Florida cavalry 
were all the troops we had to receive them. About 
a mile from Lake City where we expected to meet 
the enemy we formed a line in the pine woods. 
Soon they were in sight, and, on seeing our skir- 
mishers, dismounted and proceeded to attack us. 
It was a foggy morning and the enemy approached 
within seventy-five or one hundred yards before 
we perceived each other. I was given command of 
the skirmish line. I was instructed to try to draw 
them near to our line. Both sides commenced 
firing. Soon the mists rose. The enemy, seeing 
our line of battle, retreated with haste. They 
outnumbered us two to one. We lost no men. 
While walking along the line of skirmishers I was 
aware of bullets whistling near me, one going 



24 Jobn porter jfort 

through my cap. Then I realized that the white 
blanket strapped to my shoulders made a target, 
I pulled it off and the firing, especially at me, 
ceased. 

After this skirmish fighting our forces were 
joined by Colquitt's and Harrison's brigade and 
we marched forward at once and met the enemy 
on the ever memorable battlefield of Olustee. 
It was not the intention of our commanding officer, 
General Finnegan, to fight the battle where it was 
fought. About a mile to the rear our line of 
battle had been formed with a protection on 
one flank of Ocean Pond and a swamp on the 
other. A regiment was sent forward to entice 
the enemy to our line of defense; they became 
engaged and regiment after regiment was sent 
forward to support them until the engagement 
became general, resulting in a complete victory 
for our forces. 

The battle of Olustee was fought in the open pine 
woods. The victory was attributed to the courage 
and determination of the soldiers. There were no 
special tactics or generalship displayed. It was 
simply a continuous charge of the enemy to break 
our irregular lines which had been formed behind 
logs and trees. In this strong position our regi- 
ment of one hundred and fifty men was at the 



3obn porter jfort 25 

extreme left, with a depression filled with logs in 
front. Here we remained many hours resisting 
every attack of the enemy, who were many times 
our number, to dislodge us. They were in plain 
view and being above us presented a fair mark. 
At last under shot and shell we rose and charged 
them. We had already withdrawn our skirmishers, 
so we overran their skirmish line with our line 
of battle. They now hastily withdrew and our 
victory was complete. The battle lasted from 
noon until night. I think it probable that we 
killed and wounded more men than we probably 
had in our command. 

During the battle we were commanded by Capt. 
Henry A. Cannon of Wayne County, Georgia. At 
the beginning of the battle, after all our men were 
in position, I was standing within a few feet of 
Captain Cannon. I whispered in his ear that it 
was his duty to lie down, or protect himself behind 
a tree as I was doing. The enemy was charging 
in front of us, and I was satisfied no one could 
stand before such a fire. He refused to move, but 
stood with his sword drawn calling on the men to 
be steady. I had hardly spoken before a ball 
struck him. He staggered backward saying, ''I 
am a dead man." With my left arm under him 
I lowered him to the ground. He died at once. 



26 5obn porter ffort 

He was a good officer and a brave man. We were 
together in the same mess. I wrote to his wife 
an account of his death and sent her a small 
amount of Confederate money that Captain Can- 
non had left with me. The day before the battle, 
while riding near a great live oak tree, he had said 
if he should die in battle he would like to be buried 
under its branches, so he was wrapped in his 
military cloak and buried there. In this battle 
I lost another friend. Lieutenant Dancy of Lake 
City, Florida. 

At that time I had but three or four men in my 
company. They were tried and true soldiers and 
were too few to require any attention from me. 
So I went into the battle with the arms of a private 
soldier. 

On hearing of the battle of Olustee my brother 
Tom returned to the regiment, a very ghost of 
his former self. He was wholly unfit for any 
kind of service and had to have a negro man to 
accompany him. Strange as it may appear, camp 
life seemed to agree with him and he soon re- 
ported for duty. 

Our camp life in Florida's piny woods was varied 
with sham battles between different regiments; 
the men used lighted pine burrs at night as am- 
munition. Another entertainment was digging 



5obn porter ffort 27 

gophers and often a rattlesnake out of their holes. 
We ate the gophers and killed the snakes. I re- 
member one rattler that measured over ten feet 
and whose head was as broad as my hand, to 
stuff its skin took a bushel of bran, and a straw was 
run through the hollow of its fangs. I have never 
before or since seen such a serpent. It came out of 
a gopher's hole to warm in the sun and its head 
was cut off by an officer's sword. 

The troops of both armies soon left Florida. 
Our regiment was partly filled up with returning 
invalids and recruits. We stopped at Savannah 
and were sent on Whitemarsh Island to aid in the 
coast defense. There and upon Wilmington Is- 
land we performed picket duty upon an extensive 
scale. For a short time we were engaged in guard- 
ing a large number of Federal prisoners, who had 
been brought from Andersonville to be turned over 
to the United States fleet stationed at the mouth 
of the Savannah River. The United States Gov- 
ernment refused to exchange prisoners of war 
with the Confederate States. The Confederate 
authorities wished to avoid feeding and guarding 
so many prisoners. So several thousand were 
forced on their government on the plea of sickness, 
although not one in ten was really sick. These 
prisoners were taken down the river on fiat barges. 



28 jobn porter ifort 

I remember their shout of joy when they saw the 
Stars and Stripes floating from the masts of the 
transports which waited to receive them. 

About this time General W. T. Sherman com- 
menced his famous march through Georgia, with 
nearly one hundred thousand men in his com- 
mand. There was no force to oppose them. And 
their course was marked by fire and pillage. My 
mother's house in Milledgeville was robbed of 
everything of value. My mother and sisters fled 
to Macon just before this army of robbers had 
reached Milledgeville. All the men that could be 
gathered together opposed Sherman's army as it 
approached Savannah. Our regiment marched 
from Whitemarsh Island and occupied a prominent 
position in the breastwork of defense. General 
Sherman and his army confronted us and although 
twenty times our number they refused to attack 
us, although we offered them defiance for several 
days. General Sherman's tactics as a general was 
exemplified here. He opposed us with an en- 
trenched line more than equal to ours and sent a 
large force to occupy our flank, thus forcing us to 
retreat. Our regiment of about two hundred and 
fifty men was commanded by Colonel R. A. Wayne, 
a cool, fearless, officer. I was on duty as adjutant 
of the regiment. We felt the hazard of our posi- 



Jobn {porter jfort 29 

tion. The rumor came along the line that we were 
to be surrendered as prisoners. We were deter- 
mined to resist to the utmost. Suddenly at night- 
fall we evacuated our entrenchments and crossed 
the Savannah River, leaving the city to be occu- 
pied by General Sherman and his army. It was 
on a bitter cold night, December 23, 1864, when we 
crossed the river. The scene of our army at mid- 
night crossing the river on the pontoon bridge 
lighted by bonfires and the excitement over the 
evacuation are all vividly impressed on my mem- 
ory. The next morning when the sun was barely 
above the horizon I looked across the wide rice 
fields of Carolina, and saw the United States flag 
floating above the City Hall of Savannah. The 
Federal army was delighted at the capture of 
Savannah, especially of twenty-five thousand bales 
of cotton, which were stored there. Though this 
was private property, it was ordered shipped and 
sold for government account. 

Our army when we left Savannah was under the 
command of General Hardee. It contained only 
about eight thousand men, mostly reserves, old 
men and boys. We never attempted seriously to 
oppose General Sherman in his march through 
South Carolina. The march of that army was a 
trail of fire and desolation. Their acts of vandal- 



30 Jobn porter 3f ort 

ism accomplished nothing except to embitter 
Southern people. Pillars of smoke arising from 
barns and peaceful dwellings gave us notice that 
Sherman's army had commenced its forward march. 
Our little regiment was the rear-guard in nearly all 
of our march through the State. I shall not give 
in detail the various scenes and incidents con- 
nected with our marches and countermarches in 
front of the great Federal army, nor shall I de- 
scribe the scenes of confusion among the people. 
We had less than ten thousand men of all arms, 
of these about five thousand were infantry. The 
enemy pursuing us had more cavalry than our 
entire force. We, who brought up the rear, would 
form in a good position and dare this cavalry 
to attack us. They invariably refused to do so. 
We were then forced to withdraw before their great 
force of infantry could arrive to overwhelm us. 
Because of exhaustion and sickness we lost 
probably about one-fourth of our army before we 
reached Augusta. We passed below Columbia, 
but the main body of the Federals took a direct 
line to South Carolina's capital with the avowed 
purpose of its destruction. 

I will now pass over the incidents of our Caro- 
lina campaign, until we reached Cheraw on the 
Santee River. The enemy evidently expected 



Jobn iporter yort 31 

that we would give them battle here, because at 
this point we had large commissary stores. But 
General Hardee had no idea of attempting battle, 
except skirmishes. So we used every exertion 
to get our army with all the supplies possible 
across the Santee River and then burn the bridge. 
Our little regiment, comprising less than two 
hundred men, was given the dangerous duty of 
guarding the river until our cavalry could retire 
behind us and then we were to cross the bridge 
ourselves. Very soon we saw a dark line of horse- 
men among the trees. At first, we supposed that 
they were the enemy, but they proved to be our 
cavalry, about five hundred men. They came 
thundering down the road, crossed the bridge, 
and were soon in our rear. Then in the woods we 
saw a long line of infantry with their skirmishers 
in front advancing slowly to attack our skirmish 
line. The immediate command of our skirmishers 
was given to my brother. Captain Tomlinson Fort, 
a calm, fearless officer. I, as adjutant, was in- 
structed by Colonel Wayne to ride along the line 
and to tell the men to fall back slowly before the 
overpowering forces of the enemy. In returning 
to my post beside the colonel, as was my duty, I 
had the narrowest escape from death or capture 
that occurred to me during the entire war. I was. 



32 3obn porter jfort 

aware of the great danger I was incurring as I 
swiftly galloped back in front of our skirmish line 
along the public road to rejoin Colonel Wayne. 
As I emerged from the pines along the road, riding 
very swiftly, suddenly I came upon two or three 
of the enemy's skirmishers who had been firing 
at Colonel Wayne. I came into the main road a 
few steps ahead of these men. I pulled up my 
horse and suddenly turned to the left and at the 
same instant the men threw up their guns and fired. 
By reason of my sudden turn I feel satisfied that 
the balls all went in front of me. As I rode down 
the open road a dozen or more skirmishers had 
some nice target practice at me, but they did very 
poor shooting. A cup was cut from my haversack, 
I think my hair was touched, and my horse was 
skipped by a ball. We arrived at the bridge — 
with a large body of enemy skirmishers about 
fifty yards behind us. 

The bridge, a wooden-covered structure, had 
been saturated with turpentine and rosin by a 
squad of our men who had instruction to burn it 
as soon as we had crossed — I was among the 
last to cross. The bridge was then smoking and 
burning, I remember being partly stifled with 
smoke as I entered, with difiiculty forcing my 
horse through. The bridge burned like tinder and 



Jobn porter ffort 33 

a few minutes after we were across the flames were 
fifty feet high. 

After we had marched a few hundred yards, our 
regiment received orders to return to the bridge 
and see that it was entirely destroyed. I never 
saw a better exhibition of discipHne and courage 
than was shown by our tired men. With no pro- 
tection, and only a narrow river separating them, 
they turned to face a force ten times their number. 
Fortunately there was a natural entrenchment by 
the river into which we filed and which fully pro- 
tected us from the enemy's fire across the river. 
Our situation was changed — the heavy line of 
enemy skirmishers was along the open river and 
our men who had been so long pursued were 
protected, so we had our revenge. 

My brother Tomlinson, was stricken with a 
most acute case of inflammatory rheumatism and 
had to be carried by his men, as he did not wish to 
be left to fall into the hands of the enemy. After 
we had crossed into North Carolina I managed to 
have him sent in a wagon to Raleigh where he 
was taken care of by a kind lady, Mrs. Polk, until 
his recovery. 

I asked our commanding colonel that I be re- 
lieved from my position as acting adjutant, and 
that I be assigned to command of Company L, 



34 5obn porter ffort 

my brother's company. It now had no com- 
missioned officer. My request was complied with. 
Colonel R. A. Wayne called a meeting of the offi- 
cers of the regiment and proposed that on my 
being relieved of my position that the thanks 
of the regiment be given to me. It was agreed. 
The regiment was drawn up in line of battle, arms 
were presented, and in the language of the order — 
"Thanks are returned to Lieutenant Fort for his 
coolness and courage under fire." I was much 
gratified at this compliment. I have the paper 
written in pencil by Colonel Wayne, and have 
preserved it for my children so as to show them 
that their father did not lose his presence of mind 
in times of great danger, and that they are the 
children of a Confederate soldier. 

General Hardee's brigade was now joined to the 
army of General Joseph E. Johnston. At Benton- 
ville. North Carolina, Johnston gathered together 
what forces he could, and fought the last great bat- 
tle of the war. It was a bloody, indecisive battle, 
and ought never to have been fought. We were 
confronted with a force over four times our superior 
in number and ten times in equipment. No valor 
or strategy could overcome such immense odds. 

On the evening of the last day our rifle pits on 
the extreme angle in front of our main line were 



FACSIMILE OF THE COMPLIMENTARY ORDER 
ISSUED BY COLONEL WAYNE 



Jobn porter ffort 35 

captured. To recapture them a detail of ten men 
from each company in the brigade was made and 
I was detailed to lead it. It appeared a very- 
hazardous undertaking, but we retook the pits 
with but little loss. I was the third man in the 
pits. At midnight our army retreated across the 
river. 

As soon as we had a safe distance between us and 
the enemy, an order came to send an officer from 
our division to Georgia to collect all soldiers pos- 
sible and bring them to the army. This order 
was given to our regiment. Every officer except 
myself applied for the place. Colonel Wayne was 
indignant at so many applications, and ordered me 
to go. I at once made quick preparations to leave 
for Georgia. I had written orders signed by the 
adjutant-general of General Joseph E. Johnston's 
army for all authorities to forward me on my 
journey with all means in their power. I was 
aided some by the railroads, but I mostly depen- 
ded upon walking, carrying a knapsack weighing 
twenty-nine pounds. On my journey through the 
Carolinas and Georgia I witnessed many scenes 
and incidents, some of an amusing, others of a 
pathetic nature. I made a remarkably quick 
trip. A day or so after I left the army a reorgan- 
ization was made of our division. Our regiment 



36 3obn porter ffort 

was raised to over one thousand men. Although 
not present I was advanced to senior first lieuten- 
ant of the regiment. Many officers were put back 
into the ranks. 

While on the road I heard of the surrender of 
General Lee. It seemed unbelievable, and I de- 
nied the report. I arrived in Macon two days 
before its capture by General Wilson. An organ- 
ization of cavalry was hastily formed in which I 
was to receive an independent command and join 
General N. B. Forrest in Alabama. But before 
this could be accomplished in quick succession 
came General Johnston's surrender, the capture 
of President Davis, and the death of the Con- 
federacy. 

In conclusion, Stonewall Jackson defined war 
as ' ' Death. ' ' General Sherman as ' ' Hell. ' ' What- 
ever may be its definition it is always unjustifiable, 
inhuman, barbarous; the cause has nothing to do 
with the issue of the conflict. Success attends 
the side with resources sufficient to overcome their 
opponents. For the last year of the war it was the 
pure white flame of patriotism which alone sus- 
tained the Confederacy, — its material resources 
were exhausted. No valor, however great, could 
withstand the resources of the North sustained by 
immigrants from Europe. The frown of civiliza- 



Jobn porter jfort 37 

tion was upon the institution of negro slavery 
and it had to go. 

Note — At Cornelia, Georgia, on March 25, 19 17, a little 
group of patriotic women met to organize a Chapter of the 
United Daughters of the Confederacy, and when asked to select 
a name for the Chapter, the name of John P. Fort was suggested 
and unanimously adopted, the ladies being anxious to show, in 
some measure, their appreciation of his splendid war record and 
of his loyal and unselfish devotion to this section of the State since 
the War. 

Mrs. R. L. Deck, 

Pres. John P. Fort Chapter, U. D. C. 



AFTER THE WAR 

When I returned from the army I had a severe 
cough and was in a very run down condition. 
Brother George feared that I had an incipient case 
of tuberculosis. So in the fall of 1865 I went down 
to a plantation in Sumter County to try to recover 
my health by living out of doors. That winter 
I lived the life of a hunter, the gun constantly in 
my hand. During the four years of the war the 
game had not been hunted at all, consequently it 
had increased in great abundance. I was very suc- 
cessful in killing game of all kinds — quail, ducks, 
wild turkey, and deer. To show the abundance of 
the game, and my success, I remember that in 
fourteen turkey hunts I brought home a turkey 
every time but one. There were several large 
ponds in the place to which the ducks, principally 
mallards, came in great flocks to roost. One late 
afternoon I saw two trumpeter swans coming in 
to a pond. From a distance of one hundred and 
forty yards I raised my rifle and shot one of them 
dead. It was a magnificent bird, weighing thirty- 
nine pounds and measured nine feet from tip to 

38 



5obn iporter ffort 39 

tip of the wings. There were coon hunts at night, 
and many hours spent with the fishing rod. On 
many of the trips I was accompanied by a faithful 
negro named Squash. My health improved, my 
cough disappeared, and I went back to Macon a 
well, strong man. 

In 1864 my sister JuHa, Mrs. E. D. Huguenin of 
Macon, then a widow, died as a result of a runaway 
accident. She left Rve children to my mother's 
care. She bequeathed to my mother her home 
and servants in Macon, and made brother George 
executor of the estate. The family then moved to 
Macon, where we lived for about twenty years. 
The family life was a most harmonious one. The 
household was presided over by my mother, 
assisted by sister Kate. 

In the spring of 1866 brother George died. He 
had been in poor health for a long time, but, in 
spite of that, he had made a splendid success of his 
profession, and had acquired a good deal of prop- 
erty. He was the kindest and best of brothers. 
After brother George's death I applied for tes- 
tamentary letters for the administration of the 
Huguenin estate. The letters were granted de 
bonis non cum testamentor nexus. The estate 
consisted principally of three large plantations in 
Sumter County. At Colonel Huguenin's death 



40 Jobn porter jfort 

there had been about three hundred slaves. I 
assumed the position of manager of the estate, 
which occupied most of my time for many years. 
When I took charge the estate owed about twenty 
thousand dollars to Mrs. Rosa E. Delony, Athens, 
Georgia, a daughter of Colonel Huguenin by a 
former marriage. I succeeded with great effort 
in paying off this indebtedness, although the 
extreme low price of cotton and the contraction 
of the currency made the payment very difficult 
to make. Some years I was not able to make 
any at all. At one time attempts were made to 
sell the plantations at public sale. But I man- 
aged to pull through. My commission for ad- 
ministrator averaged about eight hundred a year. 
I resumed the study of law under the tutelage 
of Mr. L. N. Whittle in 1866, and I was duly 
admitted to the Bar in the following year. On 
account of the fact that the Sumter County plan- 
tations kept me so busy, I was only able to devote 
a limited amount of time to the practice of law. 
I was reasonably successful in my profession. 
I had a good clientage who felt that their affairs 
were in safe hands. Some of my cases involved 
interesting questions of law, several being taken 
to the Supreme Court. I believe my greatest 
triumph was the case of Mrs. Martha F. Woodson 



5obn porter ffort 41 

versus Bodeing & Company, in which the 
opposing counsel was Mr. Benjamin H. Hill, in 
which I achieved a great victory. I retired from 
the practice of law in 1885 and turned my entire 
attention to agriculture. 

During my life in Macon I was interested in 
the welfare of the city. Under the auspices of 
the Ladies' Memorial Association, I erected the 
Confederate monument which is standing to-day 
at the crossing of Cotton Avenue and Mulberry 
Street. 

My niece, Martha Huguenin, married Mr. J. Mar- 
shall Johnston of the firm of R. T. Wilson & Co., 
bankers of New York City. Mr. Johnston and I 
purchased large plantations in Houston, Lee, and 
Dougherty counties, twelve thousand acres in all. 
The title was conveyed to me and Mrs. M. F. 
Johnston. The aif airs of the Huguenin estate be- 
ing now wound up I could give most of my time 
to agriculture on the newly acquired plantations. 
The price of cotton continued very low. I do not 
think at that time any one made money plant- 
ing cotton. 

At just about that time the cotton caterpillar 
appeared in the fields of southern Georgia and bid 
fair to destroy the crop. Cotton growing seemed 
doomed as a profitable undertaking. One day 



42 John porter ffort 

while out in the fields I noticed that the moths, the 
parents of the cotton caterpillar, were flying very 
slowly, as if sick. I captured some of these moths 
and took them back with me to Macon, where with 
the aid of a compound microscope I discovered 
they were infested with a parasitic insect. This 
parasite killed them in a short time. I, at once, 
communicated this discovery to the Entomological 
Department in Washington. But they refused 
to agree with me in this, the true reason for 
the quick disappearance of the cotton caterpillar. 
Although I had testimony that the same trait of 
slow short flight was noticed in the moths all over 
the country, I do not know if any credit has ever 
been given to my discovery by the Department, or 
how they finally accounted for the disappearance 
of the caterpillar from the cotton fields. 

In the year 1876, a society for the promotion 
of agriculture was formed, with headquarters in 
Washington City. The organization spread with 
astonishing rapidity, the farmers looking to it for 
assistance. At a general meeting in Atlanta of 
the Georgia organization, of which I was a member 
and officer, a resolution was passed requesting the 
legislature to form a Department of Agriculture. 
I was requested to prepare a bill. I had no guide 
before me; but I drew the bill, defining its object 



3o\m porter jfort 43 

in various matters, and giving the commissioners 
power to prescribe rules, and to prohibit the sale 
of worthless fertilizers in this vState. I handed the 
bill to Mr. Bacon, speaker of the House, and it 
was introduced by Mr. Butt of Marion County. 
The bill passed without amendment after much 
discussion, and was soon a law. A similar bill 
was passed almost at once by several other States. 
Among the plantations in the western part of 
Dougherty County, purchased by Mr. Johnston 
and myself in 1879, was a body of land of twenty- 
five hundred acres known as "Hickory Level." 
The land was very fertile, there was no superior in 
that entire section of the State. The plantation 
was very sickly, no white man but one had ever 
lived on it for two consecutive years. Malaria in 
its worst form was very prevalent. The death rate 
among the negroes was alarming. At that time, 
the theory of the relation of the mosquito to the 
spreading of malaria had not been advanced. I 
considered the sickness to be due to a great extent 
to the very bad water, being what is known as 
"rotten limestone, " which was drunk on the place. 
The question of obtaining pure water became so 
important that at one time it looked as though the 
place would have to be abandoned if some solu- 
tion were not found. I thought first of building 



44 Jobn porter jfort 

large cisterns with sheds to catch rain water, but 
that plan involved so many details, and expense, 
and there was the danger of easy contamination, 
so I gave up that plan. I suggested then that we 
bore an artesian well, as I had been investigating 
that subject and believed that a well could be bored 
with success. The question was discussed between 
Mr. Johnston and myself but held in abeyance on 
account of the expense and the uncertainty of the 
enterprise. 

During the summer of 1880 there was a great 
deal of sickness on the place. There was very 
little rain. Water was difficult to obtain and was 
of a milky color. During that summer I tried to 
interest the town of Albany and the Central of 
Georgia railroad in the enterprise of boring an 
artesian well to obtain good water. At that time 
Mr. Nelson Tift, Sr., was Mayor of Albany; Gen- 
eral W. S. Holt was president and Mr. Shelman 
superintendent of the Southwestern railroad. As 
best I could, I laid before these gentlemen, the 
importance of good water to that section and 
what the benefit would be to the town of Al- 
bany and to the railroads. I explained why I 
believed artesian wells could be bored with success 
in this section. And as I felt financially unable 
to undertake the experiment of the first well, I 



Jobn porter Jfort 45 

wished to get financial assistance for the undertak- 
ing from those who would ultimately be benefited. 
I received no encouragement. I wrote articles for 
the Macon Telegraph and the Albany News and 
Advertiser, explaining fully my reasons for believ- 
ing that artesian wells could be bored in southern 
Georgia. My theories were ridiculed, and received 
no serious attention. 

At last, I determined to commence the under- 
taking myself. I had the consent of my partner, 
Mr. J. M. Johnston. We were jointly to bear 
the expense. I again laid the matter before the 
managers of the Central and Southwestern rail- 
roads for assistance. I saw Mr. Shelman in person. 
All he would do was to give me a free ticket over 
the Southwestern road for the man whom I had 
engaged to commence the well. This amounted 
to three dollars and fifty cents, which was all the 
assistance I received from the railroads, and that 
was done in anticipation of the freight charges 
that were to be on the engine and other material 
that were to be brought from Selma, Alabama, to 
Ducker Station for the purpose of boring the well. 
I had written to a friend in Selma, Mr. J. C. 
Campton, to recommend to me a man who was 
accustomed to boring artesian wells in that sec- 
tion of Alabama. He employed for me a Mr. 



46 Sobn porter ffort 

Jackson from Selma at the price of five dollars 
a day, for his services, and use of his friction clutch 
and windlass. I purchased an engine and steam 
pump and commenced work on February i, 1881. 

My reasons for the faith I had in the practica- 
bility of artesian wells being bored in Georgia was 
a matter of thought and observation extending 
from my boyhood. One day while riding in a 
buggy with my father in the lower part of Baldwin 
County, we crossed a little stream known as 
"Reedy Creek," that flowed over many small 
round pebbles that looked like birds' eggs. The 
banks, too, of the stream were covered with these 
round stones imbedded in the earth. I got out of 
the buggy to get some to carry home as checker 
rocks for my sisters. My father then explained 
to me, that at an ancient period of time this had 
been the shore of the ocean that had extended over 
what is now southern Georgia, south of a line 
drawn from Augusta to Columbus. I was in- 
terested in the facts explained to me by my father, 
and remembered the conversation. 

Many years afterwards while on the southern 
Chattahoochee River I noticed cut by the river 
bank a stratum of blue earth, which I felt assured 
was an ocean deposit known as blue marl, a deep-sea 
ooze. This ooze is impervious to water, prevent- 



5obn ipotter ffort 47 

ing the water underneath from rising to the sur- 
face in springs. I noticed this deposit on the west 
bank, the Alabama side, and that it was sloping 
downward, eastward, and toward the south. I 
crossed over to the east bank, the Georgia side, 
none was to be seen. But the natural supposition 
was that it was there only lower than the river 
bank. This was near Eufaula. As this marl 
appeared again at the surface near Brunswick, I 
took what seemed to me to be a logical position 
that this deposit extended under all southern 
Georgia, far down in the earth. 

There were other phenomena I had observed 
on this subject. During the Civil War, I was 
attached to a cavalry scout service with head- 
quarters near Saint Mark's, Florida. One day 
I went with a comrade, Jim Denham, in a skiff 
up the Wakulla River to the Wakulla Spring, 
about five miles from Saint Mark's. This spring 
is said to be the largest in the world. It is a great 
natural curiosity. Here was a river as large as 
the Chattahoochee or larger, rising up out of the 
ground. Whence came this water? The natu- 
ral answer seemed: an underground river flow- 
ing under Georgia, which had been prevented 
before from rising to the surface by some natural 
obstruction, namely, earth impervious to water. 



48 Jobn porter jfort 

The water had sunk into the earth in the northern 
plateau and mountains of Georgia, where there 
were no water-tight strata. I was greatly awed 
and interested in the Wakulla Spring. At first my 
ideas of its origin were only vague and crude, but 
became more definite and crystallized as time went 
on, and as I added to my observation and thought 
on the subject. 

There had been several attempts to bore arte- 
sian wells in Georgia. In about 1850 an attempt 
was made to bore a well in Albany ; which proved 
a complete failure. They were wanting in con- 
tinuous pipes to reach water-tight strata. The 
water would seep out and never reach the surface. 
Mr. Jones of Newton, Georgia, was the contractor 
for the Albany well. I wrote to him upon the sub- 
ject. He answered with a most discouraging 
letter, stating that when a young man he had lost 
a good deal of money in that enterprise, which he 
had never been able to recover from the town of 
Albany. Another attempt was by a Mr. Walker, 
called "Rich Billy Walker," a very wealthy man 
of Pulaski County, who bored two wells near 
Longstreet, Georgia, both of which were failures, 
although he went over six hundred feet deep. 

My attention was also called to the fact that 
scientists and especially the famous geologist, 



Jobn porter ffort 49 

Joseph Le Conte, had said that artesian water 
could not be procured in Georgia. In the face of 
all this discouragement I am astonished that I 
was still determined to go ahead, and too my 
finances were very low. In after years, in think- 
ing this over, I have sometimes felt that I was 
compelled to continue the undertaking by some 
power outside of myself. 

Commencing February i, 1881, I continued the 
work through the spring and summer. My tools 
were so inferior that I almost had to abandon the 
well, especially when a boring tool, a reamer was 
broken off in the bottom of the pipe. My well 
seemed to be a failure and was ridiculed by some 
of the citizens of Albany. I remember one day 
on the street that a Mr. Bazemore, a warehouse- 
man, stopped me and laughingly said that he had 
an injunction against me, because I was trying to 
rival Noah, — the difference was that Noah wished 
to rescue from a flood while I wanted to flood 
the State. Such ridicule only made me more than 
ever detemiined to go on. With great difficulty I 
succeeded in getting the reamer out. At about 
the depth of four hundred feet I reached the water- 
tight stratum, a deposit of deep-sea ooze known as 
blue marl. I had been looking for this water-tight 
envelope and felt greatly encouraged. 



50 5obn porter ffott 

On August 1st, I returned to Macon leav- 
ing word to continue work until my return, 
which would be within a few days. On August 
4th, at ten o'clock in the morning I received 
the following telegram, ''Water flowing at seven 
gallons per minute." I was greatly gratified at 
this, which was a triumph for my belief and for 
my perseverance. I took the next train accom- 
panied by Mr. Harry Edwards of the Macon 
Telegraph. We arrived at Ducker Station the 
next morning, Sunday, and went out at once to 
see the little well. It was an inspiring and 
gratifying sight to see the water flowing from 
the pipe. 

The country was in the grasp of a parching 
drouth, and presented the appearance of a country 
in a great need of the blessing of water. A great 
number of awe- struck negroes had assembled. 
They regarded me with great wonder and aston- 
ishment. It was thought that the Almighty had 
informed me to strike at that special spot, and I 
was likened to Moses, who in the wilderness struck 
the rock from which water gushed out. The news 
spread. The well was visited by many people who 
came to wonder and drink the splendid water. 
An account of my success was published in many 
of the State papers. The first being the Macon 



3obn porter ffort 51 

Telegraph with an article by Mr. Edwards in 
which I was much praised. 

This gem of a little well, five hundred and fifty 
feet deep, of the purest life-giving water, of less 
than one hundred grains of any substance to the 
gallon, flowed nineteen years without diminishing. 
Its diminution at the end of this time was caused 
by chemical corrosion of the pipe, a hole being 
made, through which the water passed into the 
great sand bed above the water-tight strata. I 
successfully telescoped the pipe with a smaller 
one. The well had only ceased to flow two or 
three days. 

LOG OF THE WELL OF JOHN P. FORT 

U. S. Geological Survey 

Thickness Depth 
Feet Feet 



65 65 



A few feet of surface clay, followed by limestone 

bowlders 
Limestone with silicified layers containing shells 

— Traversed by subterranean streams 85 150 

Blue marl (clay?) 15 165 

Shell rock, sand rock, and marl (clay) ; water rose 

to within 14 feet of surface 95 260 

Sand tinted blue; layer of very fine white sand 

at 370 feet, below which was some coarse 

sand with shell fragments and sharks' teeth 
Blue clay and sand rock in alternate layers 
Blue clay with soft sand rock to flowing water 
Sand and clay, forming water-bearing stratum 
Hard rock 



120 


380 


30 


410 


80 


490 


40 


530 


17 


547 



52 3obn porter ffort 

My successful boring of this well was quickly 
followed by the boring of others. The town of 
Albany and the Central railroad bored two at 
once, showing that they recognized the fact that 
it would be of value to them. Soon there were 
wells in Jacksonville and Sanford, Florida, and 
Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia. Other places 
quickly followed, getting their entire water supply 
by this means. 

Gradually the excitement occasioned by my 
well died out. By many it was looked upon as an 
accidental discovery and I was put in the list of 
cranks. I believe that it even caused my credit 
to suffer, for the banks of Albany, looking upon me 
as a crank, refused to lend money to a visionary. 
Nor has the Central of Georgia railroad,which more 
than any corporation was benefited by my success, 
ever acknowledged it in any way, or ever extended 
to me any special courtesy. The boring of my 
well, which cost eleven hundred dollars, was never 
a help to me financially. But it was a great 
satisfaction to me, to know that I was instru- 
mental in procuring the blessing of good water for 
a great section of my native State, and to know 
this has been recognized and praised by many. 

During the first ten years my little well was used 
by a large circle of the surrounding population who 



5obn porter ffort 53 

daily hauled barrels of water from the plantation. 
No charge for this water was ever made. It was 
free to all. It was a great satisfaction to me to see 
how the health on the plantation was improved. 
Malaria decreased, and hemorrhagic fever, the 
great curse of the country, almost disappeared. 
Pure water is a great preventive of sickness. 

Times were hard, but I met all my pecuniary 
obligations, although sometimes paying as high 
as fourteen per cent, for money loaned on my real 
estate as security, taking it as valued at one dollar 
per acre. 

I consider the year 1881 the brightest in my 
life, as it contained two momentous happenings; 
in August the boring of my artesian well, and in 
October my marriage to Miss Lulah Hay Ellis of 
Atlanta, which event was the most imporant in 
my life. 

I brought my wife to Macon where we lived 
three years. I then gave up entirely my law prac- 
tice, and left Macon. I took my family, my wife 
and two little daughters, to spend the winter 
months on Cooleewahee, one of my plantations 
near Albany. My wife became devoted to this 
plantation. We lived a healthful and happy life in 
the open. As game was plentiful, Lulah, with her 
fishing rod, and I, with my gun, supplied our table. 



54 3obn porter ffort 

I now return to my work with the water of south 
Georgia. 

During the boring of my artesian well we drilled 
through a limestone stratum, eighty feet from the 
surface to one hundred and ten. When this 
stratum was reached all the water which could be 
pumped down the pipe would disappear. I con- 
sidered this a strange thing. I inquired of con- 
tractors in Albany and the neighborhood if they 
had met with similar strata. They informed me 
that they had. On receiving this information, I 
felt confident that water let down into this stratum 
from a pond would disappear. I became so in- 
terested in this proposition that I determined to 
make the experiment. 

This section of Dougherty County is not over two 
hundred feet above the sea level and has on it a 
great many shallow ponds which have no natural 
drainage and which, because of the flatness of the 
land, cannot be drained by ditching. Near the 
artesian well on my Hickory Level plantation 
there was a pond of this character. It was not 
over twelve feet deep and covered several acres 
of ground. I thought that this stagnant water 
contributed to the sickness of the place, and 
to the high death rate from malaria. Later 
scientific research concerning the mosquito has 



Sobn iporter ffort 55 

proved the connection of stagnant ponds and 
malaria. 

I determined to drain this pond into that sub- 
terranean limestone stratum eighty feet below the 
surface. I had a boat built and transported pine 
logs to the center of the pond, laid them in a 
square, building this up until it was above the 
surface. I then had a platform put upon this 
crib, connected a small derrick, made a large 
swinging maul, and drove a three-inch pipe down 
to the hard-rock stratum. I then attached a chisel 
to a two-inch pipe which was let down in the three- 
inch one and cut the rock by continually raising 
it up and down, thus cutting through the rock 
until we reached that honeycombed stratum which 
I was looking for. When the chisel struck this 
porous rock it fell about two feet. A large quantity 
of air rose to the surface, startling the two negroes 
who were working on the chisel. The top of my 
three-inch pipe was several short pieces screwed 
together. I now unscrewed and left open at the 
bottom of the pond the three-inch pipe. The roar 
of the water as it went into this subterranean cav- 
ity sounded like a small cascade. The water in 
the pond decreased gradually for about two weeks, 
when it disappeared. The drained bottom pre- 
sented a remarkable sight — many fish, aUigators, 



56 3obn iporter jfort 

and trunks of ancient trees were exposed to the 
sun. 

This was a complete drainage and cost about one 
hundred and fifty dollars. By preventing the pipe 
from being stopped up with debris, the pond was 
kept successfully drained for several years. But, 
finally, through the difficulties of keeping it open, 
as there were only negroes on the plantation, and 
because of general inattention, the pipe became 
stopped up and the pond filled again. 

I would here like to state that to my knowledge 
this method of subterranean drainage has been 
taken advantage of, in several localities. One 
that has been specially drawn to my attention is 
the drainage with six pipes by Mr. T. F. Putney, 
of Albany, of several hundred acres. This has 
greatly increased the value of his land. There 
are many ponds in south Georgia that I believe 
could be drained in the same way, as I feel assured 
that this same porous limestone stratum extends 
under that entire section. 

I believe that this method could be the an- 
swer to the great problem of draining the Ever- 
glades of Florida. That State is now spending 
large sums of money on the attempt to drain parts 
of these vast swamps by canals and ditches. I 
believe that under this section of Florida is the 



Jobn porter ffort 57 

same geological formation as under Dougherty 
County, Georgia, and into which could be drained 
the surface water. And at only a fraction of the 
cost of the system now being attempted. 

I also hold the theory that the earth slides at 
the Panama Canal could be remedied in the same 
way, these slides being caused by very wet earth. 
The geological formation at the Isthmus is vol- 
canic, resting on tertiary. Where the slides occur 
is one hundred feet above sea level. I think that 
a system of pipes, from the surface into a sand stra- 
tum which runs under the Isthmus, would remove 
the water from this wet earth. I shall not here go 
into my theory in detail. I have suggested it to 
Mr. Goethals, the engineer of the canal, and state 
it here not only as a theory of mine, but as a proph- 
ecy of the system that will ultimately be used. 

As I became more and more convinced of 
the immensity of the underground waterways of 
Georgia, vast underground rivers making their way 
to the sea, and as I realized more fully the inex- 
haustible supply of good water to be obtained, I 
had the vision of a large area of our State being 
made more healthful because of pure water, and 
prosperous by the use of that same water for the 
irrigation of the land in the growing of crops. 

I had always been interested in the problem of 



58 3obn porter jfort 

irrigation. Many years ago, a Mr. H. S. Orme 
moved from Milledgeville to Los Angeles, Cali- 
fornia. When on a return visit of Mr. Orme, 
I asked him what was the most wonderful thing 
he had seen in the West. He replied that which 
most impressed him was the fact that on a piece 
of land watered by irrigation such splendid 
fruit and vegetables were raised that it was 
worth five hundred dollars an acre; adjoining 
this tract was land which could be bought for 
one dollar per acre because it could not be 
reached by water. This showed the great value 
of water, both pieces of land being of the same 
fertility. 

There is no section of Georgia that is arid, but 
a large section of southern Georgia is subject to 
prolonged summer drouths, when the crops burn 
badly, sometimes being totally destroyed. It is 
good land and with the help of commercial fertilizer 
and water could make over one hundred bushels of 
corn and two bales of cotton to the acre. This 
section is geologically in the tertiary system and I 
believe that in it artesian water is everywhere 
obtainable. 

I was so impressed with these facts and my belief 
in the underground waters of the State was so 
strong, that I determined, if I were ever financially 



3obn porter ffort 59 

able, to make a practical demonstration of what 
could be done in this section by the help of irriga- 
tion from an artesian well. 

In late years, with much difficulty and limited 
means, I have illustrated the truth of my theory. 
I have, ten miles from Albany, a plantation known 
as Tompkins. The land is good and well suited 
to my purpose. On this plantation I determined to 
make an irrigation plant. With difficulty, in spite 
of accidents, I succeeded in boring a well five 
hundred and fifty feet deep. From a pipe six feet 
above ground there now flow thirty-five thousand 
gallons per day. This now fills a reservoir which 
holds four hundred thousand gallons. This reser- 
voir is about four feet above the field to be irri- 
gated. I was financially unable to make a cement 
reservoir which would have cost between three and 
four thousand dollars. I made a cheap substitute 
of sand and clay at the cost of about one hundred 
dollars. I plastered the sides and bottom of my 
reservoir with sand and clay, and which I had 
mixed by dragging a log back and forth across it. 
The log acted as a trowel, and made the reservoir 
perfectly water-tight. 

This reservoir now irrigates a field of fourteen 
acres. On this tract I have for the last three years 
averaged per acre two bales of cotton, and over 



6o 5obn porter ffort 

one hundred and fifty bushels of corn, and over 
four hundred bushels of fine onions. 

Mr. Milo Williams, a United States irrigation 
engineer, on looking over my plant, said that this 
large section of Georgia was worth from three 
hundred to five hundred dollars per acre, that is, 
if the water supply was equal to what I believe it 
to be, and if the availability of the water became 
generally known. He said, too, that this land 
compared favorably with lands that were selling 
at that price in the irrigated section of the far 
West. The United States Department of Agricul- 
ture was interested in my work and gave me prac- 
tical advice on the irrigation of my field, but on 
account of some technicality in the irrigation 
appropriation I was given very little financial 
assistance. I had hoped that the Department 
would take up my idea and do some develop- 
ing on a large scale as they have done in the 
West. 

I wish again to state more fully my reasons for 
my confidence in the possible development of the 
underground resources of Georgia — a matter I 
believe most important. There is a surface geo- 
logical formation called eocene commencing near 
Dublin in Laurens County, extending in a south- 
westerly direction through the counties of Pu- 



3obn porter ffort 6i 

laski, Dooly, Sumter, Lee, Dougherty, Early, and 
Decatur, across a narrow strip of West Florida. 
I feel confident that under this formation flows 
a great river with collateral branches which comes 
to the surface at Wakulla Springs. Wherever 
this eocene formation is clear and distinct I believe 
an artesian well may be obtained, and that my 
well taps that great underground river. 

There are other underground waterways taking 
different directions and different surface formation 
that flow under southern Georgia and Florida. 
There is a large quantity of fresh water that 
comes up in the Gulf of Mexico near Cedar Keys, 
Florida, another in the Atlantic Ocean at Sheep 
Island, near Brunswick, Georgia. Brunswick has 
excellent artesian wells. 

I believe in the future this water power will be 
developed for irrigation. It will not require much 
capital, if the inexpensive furrow system of irriga- 
tion is employed, and the well once obtained is 
permanently there. I picture that part of the 
State prospering with the raising of cereals and 
cattle. There will be beautiful farms and comfort- 
able homes. Thus showing that adding water to 
the other bounties of nature, this land can yield 
abundant crops with the aid of the wisdom and 
industry of man. 



62 Jobn porter jfort 

We shall now turn our attention to my work in 
fruit growing in northeast Georgia. 

In the summer of 1886, we decided to spend the 
summer months in the cool and healthful climate 
of north Georgia. We bought a small cottage 
in Mount Airy, Habersham County, where my 
family have spent the subsequent summers. The 
last fifteen years being spent in a large comfort- 
able home on the highest point in the village, with 
magnificent views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and 
surrounding country, and beautified with a profu- 
sion of flowers with which my wife has great success. 

In north Georgia my first work was with grapes. 
In 1 890 I bought some land near Mount Airy and 
planted out a vineyard of Concords and Niagaras. 
I raised splendid grapes. I have never seen their 
equal, being superior in quality to those grown in 
New York State. Our climate made them es- 
pecially sweet and tender. I did not make much 
money with my vineyards as the prices were low 
and express and commission so high. The grapes 
were attacked by the black rot. I was unable to 
eradicate it, although I tried the best means then 
known to the United States Department of Agri- 
culture. So I was compelled to abandon the 
cultivation of grapes on account of this disease 
which became uncontrollable. 



5obn iporter ffort 63 

In my observation of the country around Mount 
Airy I became satisfied that a large section of the 
dividing ridge between the Chattahoochee and 
Savannah rivers, on which ridge Mount Airy is 
situated, was specially adapted to the growth of 
peaches. My principal reason for this beHef was 
the freedom of this ridge from late frosts. This 
absence of frosts is caused by oscillation of the 
atmosphere — the cold air from the high lands 
draining to the valley. Frost does not form when 
the air is in motion. My theory that peaches 
planted on these ridges are not killed by a late 
frost has proved to be correct. I did not reckon 
with the cold winds that swoop down on this sec- 
tion from the northwest, the temperature going 
very low, sometimes to zero, and killing the fruit 
buds. This fall of temperature often comes after 
comparatively warm weather, which had caused 
the buds to swell. I determined to plant a peach 
orchard on one of these ridges. In 1895 Mr. R. H. 
Plant, of Macon, and I purchased some land splen- 
didly situated about three miles west of Mount 
Airy. We planted about twenty acres in peaches. 
This orchard is known as "Clear View." Later 
I became the sole owner of this orchard. I also 
planted orchards in the other side of Mount Airy. 
I increased my orchards until I have one hundred 



64 Jobn porter ffort 

and twenty acres in peaches — about twelve thou- 
sand trees. I, at first, planted a good many varie- 
ties, but my greatest success has been with Elbertas, 
Georgia Belles, Crawfords, and Fox's Seedling. In 
good seasons I have shipped from fifteen thou- 
sand to eighteen thousand crates to markets at 
Boston, New York, New Orleans, Cincinnati, and 
Chicago. I have obtained net, as high as $1070 
for a car, my peaches selling as high as $3.50 
a crate in New York. But this was by no means 
always the case. Some seasons on account of the 
glutting of the market it hardly paid to ship. 

The fruit is of great beauty, of large size and 
bright color, and delicious flavor. My example has 
been followed by many others, and now from 
several miles above Mount Airy to Alto, ten miles 
below, are hundreds of acres planted in peaches, as 
many as six hundred cars being shipped out of this 
section in one season. I believe as a whole the 
growers have made money. Land has greatly 
advanced in price. When I first put out my 
orchard, ridge lands sold at two dollars per acre. 
Now it is worth from fifty to one hundred and 
fifty dollars. 

It has been very gratifying to me to see an in- 
dustry, in this section in which I was the pioneer, 
flourish and bring prosperity to the people. 



5obn porter ffort 65 

During peach season as much as thirty thousand 
dollars are paid out for labor alone. 

I now wish to speak of another experiment of 
mine in fruit culture. Although this experiment 
has not proved a financial success, it is of interest, 
and I believe that yet through scientific work it will 
be made a success. I speak of my cherry orchard. 
My largest orchard of cherries is at Clear View, f I 
planted the large leaf variety of sweet cherry — the 
large leaf protecting the tree from the sun, which 
is too hot for them in this climate. I planted 
a variety of Bigarreau cherries that holds its 
leaves longer than most varieties. Though splen- 
did trees, and generally blooming profusely, there 
is a lack of fertilization of the bloom, and what few 
cherries are made fall before maturing. I believe 
this condition is mostly due to the lack of moisture 
at the season of blossoming. I now have some 
ideas that may be able to correct this, and I believe 
my cherry orchard will yet prove a success. Man 
is made to overcome all obstacles. 

I have been interested in the growing of many 
kinds of fruits. I have large pear orchards on my 
south Georgia plantations, Le Conte and Keifer 
pears. The trees have been badly blighted but 
have been a moderate financial success. 

I now come to what I consider the most sue- 



66 5obn porter ffort 

cessful undertaking of the latter part of my life — 
the growing of apples in Rabun County, Georgia. 

I shall begin with a few words on apple culture 
in Georgia. Draw a line through our State from 
Augusta through the cities of Milledgeville and 
Macon to Columbus, and we will note at these 
cities that our rivers break over the granite rocks, 
and from thence flow gently to the ocean. Below 
this primary geological formation is nearly two- 
thirds of the area of our State, none of which is 
more than five hundred feet above sea level. This 
large area is classed as tertiary, and presents a 
soil and climate in which the apple has never been 
successfully grown. 

Immediately north of this line we come to the 
granite formation known as primary — comprising 
a large portion of the State, in which are included 
the red hills of Georgia. In this section certain 
classes of apples succeed well. This type may be 
illustrated by the Red June and Horse apple for 
summer; and the Yates and Terry's Winter for 
winter. These apples succeed better the higher 
altitude we reach in this primitive area of the State. 
They seem to approach a higher degree of perfec- 
tion as the altitude above sea level increases. 

I am inclined to think that climate and altitude 
above the sea level are the two most important 



Jobn porter ffort 67 

factors in successful apple-growing in the State 
of Georgia. 

We will now consider that area of our beloved 
State from which arise the headwaters of our 
streams that flow into the Atlantic and Gulf. 
This is termed the mountain section, and em- 
braces that portion of Georgia lying from 1800 to 
3000 feet above sea level. 

To go back to the beginning of my interest in 
this question, — I moved in the fall of 1898 to 
Demorest, a few miles from Mount Airy, for the 
winter months, for the purpose of putting my chil- 
dren in school, Demorest having good educational 
advantages. 

Through Demorest there used to pass covered 
wagons full of apples on their way from the moun- 
tains to Athens. I was struck with the beauty 
of these apples, especially with an apple called the 
" Mother " apple which was capable of a very high 
polish and very free from blemish. On talking to 
the wagoners I found that they came down from 
Rabun County, Georgia, and near Shooting Creek, 
North Carolina, and that they grew their apples 
with very little care or cultivation. I was so 
interested that I went up to Rabun to study 
the apple question. I applied for the govern- 
ment meteorological maps of this section. I 



68 5obn porter jf ort 

was struck by its heavy rainfall. An area of 
about thirty miles square with the center at Clay- 
ton, Rabun County, and extending into North 
Carolina, has the largest rainfall of any part 
of the United States, except Puget Sound on 
the Pacific Coast — a rainfall averaging from 
seventy to one hundred inches per annum. This 
does not come in floods, but all through the year 
in continual showers. I have often stood in Ra- 
bun Gap and been struck with wonder at the 
mist being drawn through Rabun, Hiawassee, and 
Crow Gaps, forming clouds laden with moisture 
to be deposited upon the mountains and vales of 
this favored country. They often present scenes 
of sunshine and clouds so inspiring and grand that 
they seem to encircle us with the majesty of Al- 
mighty Power. This rain upon a well-drained 
soil is very adaptable to the growth of splendid 
apples. On seeing what fine apples could be 
grown without cultivation, one naturally asked 
what could not be done with modern scientific 
culture. I wished very much to plant an orchard 
in that favored section. At first I tried to interest 
persons with capital in this enterprise, which I felt 
confident would be a profitable investment. I met 
with no success so, in spite of my limited resources, 
I determined to make the venture myself. 



3obn potter ffort 69 

In pursuance of my long contemplated desire, 
I purchased in 1906 fifty acres of land near Rabun 
Gap in northeast Georgia, for the purpose of 
planting an apple orchard. The position chosen 
was within a mile and a half of Rabun Gap, on 
the Tallulah Falls railroad. The place was 
known as Turkey Cove, situated on Black's Creek 
which forms the headwaters of the Tennessee 
River. There were upon the place about fifty 
apple trees that had been planted fifteen or twenty 
years. They were overgrown with wild vines, and 
presented a very neglected appearance. I had the 
old trees cared for and I planted a young orchard 
of twelve hundred trees of approved varieties of 
apples. The young apple trees I planted grew, and 
the old trees responded to the care given them. 
After the first year's care and cultivation, I no- 
ticed in the old orchard four trees that produced 
a red apple that surprised me with its splendid 
appearance. They ripened about November i, 
1908. 

About this time I received by mail a pamphlet 
stating that there was to be held at Spokane, 
Washington, the first National Apple Show. A 
prize was offered for the best two barrels or six 
boxes of apples grown in the sixteen Southern 
States. This prize was called the "Southern 



70 Jobn potter jfort 

States Special " and was divided into first, second, 
and third prizes. I decided to send six boxes of 
my apples to contest for the ''Southern States Spe- 
cial. " I had about twenty-five bushels from the 
four trees. I shipped six boxes by express. In 
return I received a check for $50 for the second 
best apples — North Carolina receiving the first 
prize, my apples the second, and apples from 
Oklahoma the third prize. 

Being elated with my success I had my four 
apple trees specially cared for. On November 
I, 1909, they presented an appearance superior to 
any similar sight I had ever beheld. The Na- 
tional Apple Show was again held in Spokane in 
November, 1909. I again contended for the first 
prize, ''Southern States Special," with superior 
apples to my entry in 1908. They were awarded 
the first prize of $100 above all competitors. The 
chairman of the committee making the award is 
the most renowned pomologist in our county — 
Mr. H. E. Van Deman, of Washington, D. C. 
I obtained also a diploma for the best new variety 
of apples. 

The cancelled check of one hundred dollars for 
this prize was applied for by a trustee of Mr. 
Ritchie's school, near Rabun Gap, and is now 
framed and hung upon the schoolhouse wall, to 








AWARDED TO JOHN P. FORT FOR APPLES GROWN IN 
RABUN COUNTY, GA., "FORT'S PRIZE APPLE." 



Jobn porter ffort 71 

remind the children that their county can produce 
the best apples. 

This apple, having been pronounced a new 
variety and worthy of being put upon the pomo- 
logical books at Washington, was listed and given 
the name of Fort's Prize. The apple has demon- 
strated those qualities that make a financial suc- 
cess, such as appearance, color, taste, and above 
all, keeping without decay until the spring. 

Anticipating that an orchard of this new variety 
of apple will be valuable, I have obtained grafts 
from the old trees and have put out an orchard of 
them. I have a confident hope and belief that this 
variety of apples will become very valuable in 
future to apple growers, and that they will become 
money-makers, such as the Baldwin and Ben 
Davis are among apples; the Elberta peach, among 
peaches; the Concord grape, among grapes. It 
originated in Georgia. I am gratified that I 
brought it to public attention. 

This season, 191 6, my orchard at Turkey Cove 
has an abundant crop of splendid apples, and I 
hope in the next few months to harvest a crop of 
two thousand bushels. I have just returned from 
a visit to my orchard, and it presents a beautiful 
sight. My youngest son, WilHam, has the active 
management of my orchards. 



72 3obn porter jfott 

University of Georgia, 

Office of the Chancellor, 

Athens, Georgia, 

October 22, 1915. 

Col. John P. Fort, 

Mount Airy, Georgia. 
Dear Doctor Fort : 

I received the basket of apples about a week ago and thank 
you for them. You have no idea how much I appreciate a 
kindnessiike this, particularly when it comes from the man who 
has rendered the greatest service to Georgia of any living man. 

Yours sincerely, 

David C. Barrow. 



There are now thousands of acres planted in 
this section of the State, and it bids fair to be one 
of the most profitable of Georgia's industries — 
an industry attributable in a great way to my 
success. 

I now wish to write a few words on my interest in 
the culture of pecans. When a boy in Milledge- 
ville, in the year 1849, my aunt, Mrs. Moses Fort, 
widow of my father's brother, returned from a visit 
to one of her sons in Louisiana. She brought with 
her a little sack holding about a quart of pecans. 
She divided them among my father's children, my 
share being about twelve. The others ate theirs, 
but I planted mine in the back of the garden, mark- 
ing the places with stakes from my bird trap. 
They came up that spring and some of them are 
now immense trees, sixty feet tall and bearing 



5obn porter ffort 73 

bushels of pecans. As far as I know these are the 
oldest pecan trees in the State of Georgia. About 
thirty years ago I planted a small pecan orchard 
on Tompkins plantation. They were not budded 
and were a poor variety, and for many years they 
were neglected. But about three years ago I had 
them budded and I believe that in a few years they 
will yield a profitable crop. The pecan industry 
in Georgia bids fair to be a very large one, as 
hundreds of acres have been planted. 

My belief in the agricultural possibilities of 
Georgia is so great, especially in the growing of 
fruits, that I wish to mention all my work in this 
line, the successful experiments and the ones that 
have not yet, from one cause or another, proved 
successes, such as my cherries in north Georgia, 
and my experiment with figs in south Georgia. 
The latter proved a failure because of the avidity 
and lack of cooperation of the railroads. Figs 
are too perishable to stand shipping. I wished to 
can the figs in glass jars at the orchard, but the 
freight rates on fruit in glass jars were so high and 
as there was no local market I abandoned the 
orchard. It would have proved a difficult under- 
taking anyway as I could not be in that section at 
the time and the work would have lacked the 
master's eye. 



74 Jobn porter ffort 

There is one more experiment in agriculture that 
I wish to mention which has been a success. I 
thought of growing vegetables in north Georgia 
to ship to Florida after its crop was over. So I 
planted half an acre in tomatoes to be shipped 
to Savannah and Jacksonville. The railroads 
considered shipping vegetables to southern points 
such an uncertain and foolish thing that they 
required me to give bond on the freight. My 
experiment was a great success, the commission 
merchant, Mr. Putzel, of Savannah, wrote me 
that in his twenty- seven years of experience he 
had never handled such stock. The half-acre 
netted me one hundred and fifty-nine dollars. 
My example has been followed by others, and 
vegetables are now being shipped in considerable 
quantities from Cornelia to south Georgia and 
Florida markets. 

In June, 1909, when in Athens to attend the 
graduation of two of my sons, as an appreciation 
of my work for the State agriculture, I had con- 
ferred upon me by the University of Georgia, 
the degree of ''Doctor of Science." That the 
trustees of the University contemplated this was 
entirely unknown to me. This honor was con- 
ferred before a large audience and was very 
gratifying. 





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Jobn porter dfort 75 

My irrigation plant in south Georgia having 
proved a success, the Department of Agriculture 
at Washington sent a special irrigation engineer 
to Tompkins plantation to make a report. Such 
a good report was made that the Department con- 
ferred upon me the title of Collaborator of Irri- 
gation, giving me a diploma stating this fact. 

As I stated near the beginning of this story of my 
life, I believe that my mind and temperament are 
those of a naturalist. From my boyhood my 
interest in birds has never abated. I know their 
habits, I can distinguish the notes of all the birds 
of our woods and recognize them by their flight 
as far as my eyes can see. 

This spring (191 6) while seated on the porch of 
our home, at Mount Airy, I have succeeded with 
great patience and with the enticing power of the 
peanut, in getting a gray-crested titmouse to light 
on my hand, and to take a peanut from between 
my lips. And I persuaded a nuthatch to come 
within a foot of my chair. The titmouse knew me 
so well that when I was several hundred yards from 
the house it flew down from a tall tree and took a 
peanut from my hand. This was in the season 
when food was plentiful. 

As an agriculturist as well as naturalist I have 
been always interested in the insectivorous birds 



76 Jobn iporter ffort 

as a great aid to man in the destruction of insects. 
I know of no bird that does not eat insects, except 
the goldfinch. I remember once examining the 
stomach of an American swift, it contained a 
mass of insects, six hundred and fifty mosquitoes 
and gnats which had been caught on the wing that 
day. Especially valuable is the purple martin 
because he can be attracted to our fields and 
orchards if the proper kind of house is made for 
him. He arrives from the tropics very early in 
time to meet the first flight of many noxious 
insects such as the cuculio which is so destructive 
to the peach and similar fruits. 

When I built for irrigation my reservoir holding 
four hundred thousand gallons, I was afraid that 
it would be a great breeding place for mosquitoes. 
I placed around the reservoir boxes and gourds on 
poles as homes for the purple martin, so that the 
birds would destroy the mosquitoes. At the same 
time I had put in the water small fish to eat the 
wiggletails, the larvae of the mosquito. The fish 
and martins have largely eradicated this noxious 
insect from' the plantations. ^ 

At the present time the boll weevil has made its 

^ Acknowledgment of Mr. Fort's observations on mosquitoes 
has been made in The Mosquitoes of North and Central America 
and West Indies, pages 178, 403, vol. i. Authors: Leland O. 
Howard, Harrison G. Dyar, Frederick Knabe. 



3obn porter fort 77 

appearance in most of the cotton fields in south- 
west and middle Georgia. I believe that the 
ravages of the weevil cannot be stopped, but they 
can be checked and reduced to a minimum. In 
studying the history of this insect, I find that it is 
food for birds of the class hirundo, or swallow. 
When the boll weevil, which is one of cuculio, 
makes its first flight over the cotton fields before 
depositing its eggs in the cotton squares is the 
time that it is caught by the swallows and martins. 
The weevil is slow in flight and easily caught. 
If the first brood is caught it will decrease them 
by the million, as it has been calculated that the 
progeny of one female, if not destroyed, would 
by the end of the season be two million. I have 
had placed around my cotton fields forty martin 
boxes. I am confident that these birds will greatly 
lessen the depredation of the boll weevil in my 
fields. As the martin returns every year to the 
same home, each year I hope to have a larger 
colony. 

We must protect the birds. A great French 
savant has said that in seven years, without the 
help of insectivorous birds, the world would be- 
come uninhabitable by man. The destruction of 
insects is greatest during the nesting season of 
the birds, as a young bird is a small mill continually 



78 Jobn porter ffort 

grinding up insects. Birds should have our spe- 
cial protection at that season. A young bird just 
off the nest is a prey to almost everything; cats, 
hawks, snalces, are among its principal enemies. 
The wanton destruction of bird life by man has so 
decreased them that it threatens the world with a 
great calamity. We must teach the young gen- 
eration to refrain from this destructive work, and 
that the birds are our useful friends. Teach them 
to love the birds, to admire their plumage and 
song, to study their habits, and to realize that they 
contemplate the work of a munificent Creator who 
has fashioned these beautiful inhabitants of the 
air. 

I now bring to a close these brief reminiscences 
of a long life, dictated to my daughter at her 
request. They are for my six children, being a 
short record of the life and work of their father. 




WITH ONE OF HIS BIRD FRIENDS 



EXTRACTS FROM THE NEWSPAPERS IN 
THE STATE OF GEORGIA 

The Macon ''Daily Telegraph,'' Saturday Morning, 
May II, IQ07 

By John T. Boifeuillet 

Speaking of John P. Fort reminds me that to 
him is due the credit of introducing artesian wells 
in southwestern Georgia, where he owned large 
farming lands. He desired to protect and im- 
prove the health of his tenants and other laborers 
by freeing them from the necessity of drinking the 
rotten limestone water in shallow wells which was 
considered productive of chills, fever, and other 
sickness. So this progressive Maconite decided 
to experiment with artesian wells and he had one 
bored on one of his plantations from which a 
splendid flow of fine water was obtained. The 
result was so gratifying that he had other wells 
bored and the health of the people on his farms 
became first class. The glad news was spread 

79 



80 3obn porter ffort 

throughout all that section of country, and other 
planters followed Captain Fort's example, and in a 
short time the boring of artesian wells became com- 
mon in that territory. An official publication says 
that the sanitary advantages that have resulted 
to many towns and localities all over the south- 
west Georgia coastal plan through the pure, 
wholesome drinking water of the artesian wells, 
are seen in the fact that sections once dreaded as 
malarial and sickly are now considered among the 
most salubrious in the State and are increasing 
more rapidly in population than even the hill 
country of north Georgia. The average depth of 
the wells in south Georgia is about four hundred 
and fifty feet, and as the various strata penetrated 
are comparatively free of rock, the wells are bored 
at small cost. Bulletin No. 7 of the State Geo- 
logical Survey says: ''While there is much yet to 
be learned about the underground water system of 
the coastal plain, there is, nevertheless, sufficient 
known already to warrant the statement that 
almost this entire portion of the State is underlaid 
by pervious beds which will furnish large quantities 
of pure, wholesome water when pierced by the 
drill. " When Captain Fort drilled his first artesian 
well he bored better than he knew. The Maconite 
became a public benefactor. Georgia is due him 



3obn iportet ffort 8i 

much for his foresight and progressiveness, his 
philanthropy and humanity. 

By Emory Speer 

From the Albany ''Herald" of Friday, 
November i, igi2 

The observant people of Georgia have long been 
aware of the blessings many enjoy through the 
inducting philosophy of a distinguished and un- 
pretentious son of our State. Our university has 
honored him and itself by the degree, Doctor of 
Science. Dr. John P. Fort was the first who made 
evident how practical and how beneficent are those 
artesian wells whose copious and healthful supply 
are now gushing in every community and on many 
farms in that fertile empire known as South Georgia. 

By W. a. Huff 
The Albany ''Herald,'' February ii, IQ13 

I never see or hear anything about the country 
around and about Albany that I do not think of 
Jno. P. Fort. 

Colonel Fort, by his wise experiment and persist- 
ent efforts, made it possible for white people to live 
in a country which had heretofore been regarded 
as almost uninhabitable. 



82 jobn porter ffort 

Colonel Fort called on me as he passed through 
Macon last week and on his way to his farm in 
south Georgia. Like myself, he is rapidly yield- 
ing to the weight of years as they carry him along 
the down-hill of life, but oh, what a halo of business 
glory will brighten and bless forever the memory 
of southwest Georgia's greatest benefactor! 

A grateful people will never be able to build a 
monument high enough to signalize the debt they 
owe to Jno. P. Fort. But as the good that men do 
lives after them, all coming generations will breathe 
out prayers of praise for him who made it possible 
for their ancestors to know the eternal joys that 
flow from the bosom of Mother Earth through the 
life-giving arteries of artesian wells. 

In the meantime you will continue to preach to 
the farmers of Georgia the gospel of truth and 
righteousness from the text — ''The Life Worth 
Living," which, when illustrated, means — peace, 
health, happiness, and prosperity, for all who 
learn to live at home and board at the same place. 

Editorial 

The Clayton ''Tribune,'" Friday, May g, igij 

Col. John P. Fort, a graduate of Oglethorpe 
College, and one of the men who first got a vision 



3obn porter ffort 83 

of the future possibilities of Rabun County's 
apples, was in Clayton, Wednesday. Colonel Fort 
owns one of the finest orchards in the county at 
Mountain City, and has done more in the way of 
growing fine fruits and advertising northeast 
Georgia, thereby enhancing the value of our moun- 
tain lands, than any other one man. Colonel Fort 
is now about seventy-one years of age, but is still 
very active. He joined the Confederate army in 
the beginning of the Civil War as a private, but was 
promoted and at the close he came out with honors 
and as a lieutenant. As Dr. Fort is able to talk 
with nature, we might compare him with Benja- 
min Franklin; he has been honored by our Uni- 
versity with the degree of Doctor of Science. Dr. 
Fort was not satisfied with growing apples in north- 
east Georgia (in Rabun County), which took the 
prize in Spokane, Washington, at the great apple 
show, and for the last year or so he has been 
studying the conditions and needs of south and 
southwest Georgia, and while he was on duty as a 
Confederate soldier, he saw the beautiful Wakulla 
River on the coast of Florida, as it bursts forth 
into the Apalachee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. 
Dr. Fort's ability to reason and know things told 
him that this beautiful clear river had its origin 
away up in the ''old red hills of Georgia, " and last 



84 3obn porter ffort 

year he made another trip to see this great spring 
or bay and to learn more about it. Dr. Fort 
traced the formation and vegetation up through 
Florida and on through the counties of Decatur, 
Grady, Early, Miller, Baker, Mitchell, Calhoun, 
Dougherty, etc., and he is satisfied that it heads in 
the counties of Laurens, Twigg, and Bibb. Dr. 
Fort owns a large plantation in Dougherty County, 
containing some three thousand acres, and last 
year he bored an artesian well on this farm about 
seven hundred feet deep, at an expense of about 
three thousand dollars, and not to his surprise, 
but to the surprise of his neighbors, Georgia, and 
our United States Government, he tapped the 
undercurrent of the beautiful Wakulla River and 
through a three-inch pipe, it has been estimated, 
a flow of eighty thousand gallons per day can be 
attained, and the expense of obtaining this flow 
and building reservoirs from which to conduct the 
waters to the crops is much cheaper in compari- 
son with any other method of irrigation known to 
the world. This discovery by Dr. Fort will prob- 
ably make it possible for other such discoveries to 
be made, and it has more than doubled the value 
of the farming lands in south Georgia, which are 
so subject to drouths. This theory of Dr. Fort's 
is thoroughly demonstrated as the water of this well 



3obn porter ifort 85 

rises and falls with the Gulf tide and the water 
is inexhaustible and his discovery is so highly 
prized by the Irrigation Bureau of the Department 
of Agriculture, that it has conferred upon Dr. Fort 
the signal dignity of ''Collaborator, " and monthly 
there comes and will come to him during his life 
a treasury draft as a token from his country of its 
government's appreciation and value of his dis- 
covery, and the time is now here that not only 
northeast and southwest Georgia will tip their 
hats to Dr. Fort's name, but the whole nation 
will recognize Dr. Fort's ability as a scientist, and 
his name will go down to future generations as one 
of America's greatest men. 

Macon ''Daily Telegraph,'' September jo, iqij 
By James Callaway 

Colonel John P. Fort is one of the sure-enough 
progressives of the State. His progressivism is not 
destructive like that of the Western politicians, 
but is of the sort that promotes the welfare of his 
State. It is well-known that he gave to Georgia 
her first artesian well. Albany followed his exam- 
ple and became the "Artesian City, " appropriate 
sobriquet — for it is a city of artesian wells. 

Some couple of years ago or more Colonel Fort 



86 Jobn porter jfort 

decided to experiment with truck gardening 
on his Dougherty County farm. He built a 
huge reservoir for the purpose of irrigation. 
Speaking of this a few evenings since, sitting on 
the veranda of the Albany Inn, Colonel Fort said : 
"I'm glad to say my experiment is a success. 
Irrigation is not needed so much here as in the 
West, still we have dry spells, and to make truck 
growing a successful enterprise, I prepared for 
seasons of dry weather. This year I will make 
176 bushels of corn per acre in the range of the 
reservoir, and I gathered onions until we were 
fatigued gathering them and preparing for market. 
And all other truck, such as beans, tomatoes, okra, 
lettuce, salads, grew abundantly. After gathering 
the onions the land was planted in corn, which is 
now in the roasting ear stage, and at this season 
roasting ears are in good demand. To prevent 
mosquitoes from breeding in the reservoir, I put 
into it fish, which destroy the larvae, and also 
erected martin poles with old-fashioned martin 
gourds around the basin of water. Martins, you 
know, feed on mosquitoes. On the ponds on my 
place I pour kerosene oil, so the plantation is free 
from mosquitoes — resulting in health for all on 
the farm. Besides my manager after rains goes 
through the quarters of the laborers and if there 



Jobn porter ffort 87 

is any water in pans or cans or old vessels they are 
emptied. Thus by a little precaution my planta- 
tion is clear of mosquitoes. 

"Then to assist in truck growing it is important 
to conserve bird life. Every vegetable seems to 
have its insect enemy. Nature provides its checks 
and balances. But for years and years, reaching 
back for nearly a century, we have been killing the 
birds. They are here as nature's remedy to feed 
upon insects. It will take years to restore nature's 
balance which we have been upsetting by our war 
on birds. Take the red-headed woodpecker, the 
blue jay, the yellow-hammers, partridges, larks, 
and the oriole family of birds, and they all feed 
upon insects. The orioles are especially fond of 
boll weevils, and it is said the blue jay and par- 
tridges are very destructive of them. But we 
destroyed nature's balance by indulging the pleas- 
ures of sport. Had we conserved bird life — 
nature's remedy — insects and boll weevils had not 
been so destructive. 

"Fortunately there is a nation-wide campaign 
for the protection of birds. Congress has taken 
hold of the matter and our new tariff bill prohibits 
the importation of wild birds' plumage for com- 
mercial purposes. It will also abolish in the 
United States and its territorial possessions the 



88 5obn iporter ffort 

traffic in the skins and feathers of wild birds. 
This national conservation of bird life, supple- 
mented by vigorous State action protecting our 
home birds, will in time restore that balance na- 
ture provided for preserving food crops and fruits 
from insect ravages. It seems almost incompre- 
hensible that we destroyed nature's remedy for 
protection to our crops. The unthinking will 
continue to destroy our birds if not prevented by 
the strong arm of the law. " 

It is always interesting to listen to Colonel Fort. 
He is full of wisdom, and to be with him is as if 
sitting at the feet of Gamaliel. He is deeply in- 
terested in apple culture in Rabun County, but his 
peach orchards around Mount Airy, his home, this 
year did not bear to any great extent. In his 
quiet, unassuming way Colonel Fort preaches di- 
versification of crops and raising home supplies, 
and he, unlike most reformers, practices what he 
preaches. His younger days were spent in Macon, 
and he has great affection for Macon and is inter- 
ested in her progress and welfare. 

The Albany ''Herald,'' Tuesday , Feb. ij, iQiy 

News of the death of Colonel John P. Fort at 
Tampa, Florida, where he was spending the winter, 
will carry sadness to all parts of Georgia. 



3obn porter ffort 89 

For Colonel Fort was a distinguished citizen of 
this State, and was widely known as a pioneer in 
many fields of activity. He it was who bored the 
first artesian well in Georgia. A great many men 
laughed at him when he declared, after carefully 
studying the geology of this section, that he would 
sink a well to water-bearing strata several hundred 
feet below the surface, and that through that well 
purer water than the people of south Georgia had 
ever drunk would flow to the surface. That 
was thirty-five years ago, and Georgia's first 
artesian well, bored on one of Colonel Fort's plan- 
tations in Dougherty County, is still flowing. It is 
a simple but eloquent memorial of the man whose 
faith was not without works, and whom the ridicule 
of those with shorter vision could not discourage. 

To-day the health of no section of Georgia is 
better than that enjoyed by the people in the region 
of which Dougherty County is the geographical 
center, and much of the credit for the present 
splendid prosperity of southwestern Georgia is 
due to the man who was not afraid to ''invest 
several thousand dollars in an auger hole in the 
ground," as some wise observers expressed it 
thirty -five years ago. 

Colonel Fort has also been a pioneer in the field 
of irrigation in this section. Several years ago 



90 5obn iporter jfort 

he publicly proclaimed the belief that a series of 
inexhaustible water-bearing strata runs beneath 
thousands of square miles of southwest Georgia 
territory, and he predicted that in time these 
strata would be tapped at many points, and drawn 
upon for water which would make garden spots of 
innumerable farming districts. He again showed 
his faith in what he proclaimed by drilling another 
artesian well on one of his Dougherty County 
plantations, where he has constructed and oper- 
ated an irrigation plant that has given splendid 
practical demonstrations of the possibilities of this 
kind of agriculture in southwest Georgia. 

Colonel Fort has also made valuable contribu- 
tions to the advancement of horticulture, and his 
apple and cherry trees, in north Georgia, are fam- 
ous throughout the United States. He has raised 
the finest apples ever produced in the South, and 
several years ago the University of Georgia con- 
ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science, 
in recognition of what he had done for Southern 
horticulture. 

Colonel Fort was a gallant Confederate soldier, 
and personally was beloved wherever he was 
known, particularly in Albany, Macon, Atlanta, 
Athens, and Mount Airy. His death is a distinct 
loss to Georgia. 



3obn porter ffort 91 

The Albany ^'Herald,'' Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1917. 
What Colonel Fort Believed 

It was the belief of the late Col. John P. Fort 
that much of southwest Georgia, including all the 
western part of Dougherty County, would one 
day blossom into a veritable garden spot as the 
result of a peculiar natural condition. 

Colonel Fort bored the first artesian well in this 
section, and had made a lifelong study of the 
geology of the southern part of the State. He 
contended that a flowing artesian well might be 
secured almost anywhere in this region, but it was 
his belief that in the territory where he had made 
especially careful investigations, including West 
Dougherty, a vast water-bearing stratum, or per- 
haps several such strata, lay below the surface 
and that the supply of water held there could never 
be exhausted. Many springs in south Georgia 
and Florida, including the great Wakulla spring 
and a number that boil up from the bottom of the 
Gulf of Mexico, were fed from this stratum, accord- 
ing to Colonel Fort's idea. 

The picture in the mind of Colonel Fort, as he 
often spoke of this rich blessing enjoyed by our 
section, was of a region to the surface of which a 
part of this water supply had been brought for use 



92 Sobn porter ffort 

in irrigation plants. He himself built such a plant 
on one of his Dougherty County plantations, and 
gave practical demonstrations of what it was 
possible to accomplish. The United States Govern- 
ment became interested in the experiment, and sent 
experts to make observations and lend assistance. 

Colonel Fort did not expect to live to see his 
dreams come true, but he believed they would 
materialize for other generations. He knew that 
in the rich soil of this section wonderful crops 
could be made under irrigation, and that with an 
inexhaustible water supply a few hundred feet 
below the surface, the development he foresaw 
would in time come to pass. 

Colonel Fort was no dreamer, though some 
persons thought he was when he began boring the 
first artesian well in Georgia. He lived to see 
hundreds of flowing wells and thousands from 
which pure water is pumped, and another genera- 
tion will no doubt see his vision of a section made 
fabulously rich by irrigation likewise realized. 

Macon ''Telegraph,'' Feb., igiy 

By James Callaway 

I received a letter from Mr. Alfred C. Newell 
concerning a memorial to the memory of Col. 
John P. Fort. The letter in part reads: 



3obn potter ffort 93 

" I note that John P. Fort, of Mount Airy,is dead. 
I write you this because it seems to me a movement 
should be initiated by some one to establish a 
memorial to this great man. He would not want 
a monument. He would be the last man in the 
worid to care for anything like display. It seems 
to me, however, entirely fitting that a special 
appropriation could be made by the board of 
county commissioners of every county in south 
Georgia to the end that a small mountain school 
might be established somewhere about his be- 
loved Mount Airy. 

''What WiUiam H. Crawford, Charies F. Crisp, 
and Alfred H. Colquitt were to Georgia in a public 
sense; what Sidney Lanier and Joel Chandler 
Harris were to the State in a literary way; and 
what Henry Grady was as an editor-statesman, 
John P. Fort has been to Georgia as the practical 
scientist. 

''In other words, his name deserves to be per- 
petuated in the immediate set of the biggest men 
in the State's history. 

"I don't think I am going too far when I say 
that he probably did more for Georgia in a prac- 
tical way than any other one man. I have a 
long letter from him which he wrote some years ago 
telling me how he first came to think of drilling 



94 3obn porter J'ott 

the original artesian well on his place near Albany. 
This was in 1881. You know, of course, the 
transformation which followed in this section. 

"It was through his efforts that the apple cul- 
ture was introduced in the north Georgia moun- 
tains. 

"He was a dreamer who dreamed dreams as 
well as a scientist who knew how to work out these 
dreams with a table of logarithms. 

"His father before him was a great man, old 
Dr. Tomlinson Fort — the greatest antebellum 
physician of his day. " 

It is certainly appropriate that some steps be 
taken at once to erect a memorial to Colonel Fort. 
Nothing would be more fitting than a "mountain 
school." It is better than brass or marble. 
Mr. Newell has communicated his suggestion to 
Editor Henry Mcintosh, of Albany, and also to 
Hon. Clark Howell. 

The thought-forces worked strongly in Colonel 
Fort, making him a centrifugal force, a builder 
for humanity. He lived to see his visions become 
realities — blessings to mankind. He felt the re- 
sponsibility resting upon him. He never per- 
mitted his faith to trail, but walked uprightly, 
full of good deeds and useful thoughts. 

Colonel Fort was certainly the "practical 



5obn porter ifort 95 

scientist." Albany is known as the ''Artesian 
City." Colonel Fort gave to Dougherty County 
its first flowing artesian well. His apples from 
the ''hills of Habersham" and Rabun took the 
premium over all others at the fairs of the 
great Northwest. 

Throw a rock into the air and by force of gravi- 
tation it falls. Yet right in the face of that power 
of gravitation, that life-giving principle called 
sap, flows to the top of the tallest tree, resuscitating 
its remotest branches. Colonel Fort's attempt to 
discover flowing artesian water was Hkened by his 
friends to the rock that falls to the ground. But 
his thought-forces within, in the face of discourage- 
ment, were like the ascending sap, bounding in 
hope and carrying triumph and beauty and health 
to every branch of his tree of endeavor. 

Every flowing artesian well in Georgia is a never- 
ceasing tribute to Colonel Fort — the "practical 
scientist, " as Mr. Alfred Newell calls him. 

Colonel Fort drove mosquitoes from his Dough- 
erty County plantation by the simple device of 
putting up martin-gourds and bird-houses at the 
homes of his tenants. He had discovered that the 
swallows and martins fed on mosquitoes, and de- 
termined to locate them on his premises by building 
little houses for them. On his recent visit to 



96 3obn porter ffort 

Macon he told the writer, his countenance lighting 
up with expressions of pleasure over his triumph, 
that his experiment had been a success and that the 
health of his tenants was excellent. 

Two years ago he advised me to try the martin. 
But the tenants considered martin-gourds a relic of 
slavery times, and in their superstition would not 
erect the martin-poles. Colonel Fort also said the 
martins fed on boll weevils, and he expected to 
largely increase the number of martin-houses. 
And this was our last conversation, not many 
weeks ago. Yes, he was like Colonel Hunt, of 
Eatonton, '* a practical scientist " — the most useful 
of men. 



COLONEL JOHN P. FORT 

Editor the Journal: I notice in a recent issue 
of the Journal the death of Colonel John P. Fort 
at Tampa, Fla. , on the 1 2th inst . His home was in 
Mount Airy, Ga. In 1863 President Davis ap- 
pointed John P. Fort a lieutenant in the First 
regiment of Georgia regulars, stationed at Ham- 
mocks Landing on the Appalachicola River, in 
Florida. The first time I saw Lieutenant Fort 
under fire was at Lake City, Fla., on the loth of 
February, 1864. He was in command of the skir- 
mish line of the regulars, trying to hold in check 
General Seamore's advance cavalry, who had 
dismounted and were fighting on foot. The 
cavalry were too strong for the lieutenant and 
forced his line back on the regiment, then mounted 
their horses and retreated toward Jacksonville. 
As a reminder of the fight they left Lieutenant 
Fort with a bullet hole through his hat. While 
Lieutenant Fort was a gallant soldier, he was a 
7 97 



98 Jobn ipottet ffott 

gentleman in the true meaning of the word, with 
his heart overflowing with kindness for his fellow- 
man. One by one the regulars are crossing over 
the river to join their comrades on the other shore, 
who are sleeping beneath the shade of the beau- 
tiful trees in that home where all good soldiers 
who did their full and complete duty are at rest. 
The last three to cross were General King, General 
Lane, and Major Howard. There were about 
eighty officers who served in the regulars during 
the war, and I know of only eight who are still in 
the land of the living — General Harrison, General 
Kirklin, Colonel Twiggs, Captain Wyley, Captain 
Anthony, Captain Myers, Lieutenant Palmer, and 
Lieutenant B lance — and they are swiftly gliding 
over the sea of time, waiting to hear the keel of 
their lifeboat grate upon the other shore. Yet a 
little while and the last Confederate soldier will 
have crossed over the river, and their like will 
never be seen again. They fought for the love of 
home and country, fought without reward or the 
hope of reward, fought to the last ditch, and when 
all was lost except honor, furled their flags for the 
last time, outnumbered five to one, but never 
whipped. 

Sweet be the sleep of Colonel John P. Fort. I 
loved him while living and will cherish his memory 



3obn porter jfort 99 

until I am called to answer the last roll call, and 
then I hope to meet him in the home of the blest. 

W. H. Andrews. 

Late Orderly Sgt. Company M, First Ga. Regulars. 
20 Hay den St., Atlanta, Ga. 



TRIBUTE PAID BY GEORGIA 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 

Colonel John P. Fort 

Since our last annual meeting death has re- 
moved one of the most honored members of our 
association. 

We not only owe his memory a page in our 
minutes but the younger and especially the future 
members, those who shall preserve this valued 
organization, would name us recalcitrant to the 
true interests of our society if we failed to pay 
tribute to this advanced thinker, practical scien- 
tist, friend of humanity, evinced by his Hfelong 
devotion to horticulture, and advocate of all rural 
betterments. 

Thus from the mountains to the sea in our State 
his name will ever be recorded in nature's annals ; 
sung by her fountains and embroidered by her 
flowers, and men shall remember and repeat his 
name with thanks when they lift the crystal 

100 



3obn porter ffort loi 

goblet to their lips, or breathe the perfume of 
earth's sweetest benefaction, — an apple orchard. 

From hidden and unknown depths the divining 
rod of his vision found and brought the sparkling 
water to refresh the low lands of Georgia. In 
common clay, unseen and unknown to others, he 
found the lusciousness of fruit, the bloom and 
fragrance of orchards to crown the peaks of Mount 
Airy. 

The mountain elevation of his north Georgia 
farm, its granite foundation, its copious rainfall 
he truly foresaw must become the home of the 
apple industry. 

The pioneer makes possible the success of the 
economist who later benefits from the foresight 
of the prophet. 

Every member of this society appreciated the 
act of the State University in conferring on him the 
degree of ''Doctor of Science." 

It was a deserved tribute, fully earned. 

His life's work is done, and this tribute can only 
be an inspiration to the living. 

May it be assigned a page to be set apart in 
our records, as a memorial to his memory. 



A RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY CITY 

COUNCIL, ALBANY, GEORGIA, 

FEBRUARY 13, 1917 

Whereas this City Council has heard with pro- 
found sorrow of the death of Col. John P. Fort, 
for many years a resident of this City, which 
occurred on Tuesday, February 12th, in the City 
of Tampa, Florida, and. 

Whereas the said Col. John P. Fort was hon- 
ored and loved by everyone with whom he came 
in contact, a man of a lovable character, a friend 
to everybody, a loving husband and father, a man 
of the strictest honor and integrity, a man of great 
public spirit, who loved this section and its people, 
a man who has proven a public benefactor of this 
section and State by his introduction of artesian 
wells, and bringing the same into universal use, 

Therefore be it resolved : 

I. That we deeply deplore the death of this 
great and good man, and tender to his bereaved 
family our most sincere and heartfelt sympathy 
in this their great sorrow. 

102 



Q ,, 89 -m 



Sobn porter ffort 103 

II. That these Resolutions be spread upon our 
minutes and a copy of the same furnished to the 
family. 

III. That as a further token of our respect and 
esteem of our departed friend this Council attend 
his funeral in a body. 

I certify that the above is a true extract from 
the Minutes of Council held February 13, 191 7. 
This I2th day of March, 191 7. 

Y. C. Rust, 
City Clerk. 



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